Valuing archaeology : exploring the reality of the heritage management of England's wetlands

This work primarily examines the management of wet-preserved archaeological sites in England, through an exploration of value and analysis of current management approaches. The aim is to explore whether the current policy frameworks, in particular the role of preservation in situ, can provide a sustainable future for wet-preserved archaeological sites. This work further seeks to conceptualise the modelling of sustainability, preservation and management decision making in wetland archaeological sites. Looking at the last 40 year of wetland research through the work of the large-scale wetland survey projects, this work initially considers the current understanding of wet archaeological sites in England. It also examines aspects of heritage management through the legislative and policy frameworks and their legacy. This work considers the implications that legislative and policy positions have for the management of wetland archaeological sites and examines the theoretical concepts that underpin them. This includes exploring reflective management, the development of research frameworks, and scoring mechanisms for the designation of sites. It also looks at broader constructs of value through the concepts of cultural and economic values. Three existing archaeological sites, a ringwork at Borough Fen near Peterborough, a marsh fort at Sutton Common near Doncaster and a triple post-alignment near Beccles, will be presented as case studies. These sites serve as examples of how the management of sites has been approached. The results of the case study analysis are used to develop a series of conceptual models looking firstly at sustainability and preservation in situ, and, secondly at preservation, value and decision making. The study concludes that the presumption in favour of preservation in situ can be challenging for wet preserved archaeological sites. Deterioration of the preservation environment can in some cases produce a similar decline in significance. Preservation in situ may therefore not be the most appropriate option for archaeological sites in wetlands. Acknowledgements I will always be grateful to my wife Sally and my two children Kate and Amy. Working part-time from home has required considerable patience from them all and I am sorry for the number of weekends and evenings lost to work. Their forbearance has enabled me to bring this work forward. Special thanks also to my mother Anne. Her critique of this work and expertise in social science has been enormously valuable. My family have also provided substantial support through the writing stages in a number of ways for which I am indebted. My thanks in 100 ways to Robert Van de Noort for his continual support during the writing of this thesis, the ideas for the work were largely developed during the years we have worked together and have benefited hugely from his support. The collaboration with Robert over the years has been very rewarding, and I have also learnt much, not least about the discipline of academic writing. Considerable thanks must also go to friends and colleagues at the Dept of Archaeology at Exeter and before that the Humber Wetlands Project, in particular Ben Gearey, Henry Chapman and Gav Thomas. This work has also benefited from discussions with a wide variety of friends and colleagues. I am grateful for the sponsorship of the University of Exeter and support from Suffolk County Council and English Heritage in allowing leave for supervision meetings and access to their resources.