Conserv Management Archaeol Sites 7 (3)

The authors consider the limitations of Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 (PPG16) in the context of recent developments within `wetland archaeology'. It is argued that the present guidelines enshrined in PPG16 fail to take account of the specific circumstances of the range of threats to many wetland archaeological sites. Such sites include those with wet preservation, frequently in urban contexts, which are directly threatened by development, but also sites more indirectly impacted upon by water abstraction, drainage, quarrying and other activities that can adversely affect the preservation of sites located at some distance from the area of works. It is proposed that the efficacy of hydrological and biochemical monitoring of the preservation of wet archaeological deposits as a tool for the management of sites needs to be debated.