Spare us the detail
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 25/10/2018

As planning-led commercial archaeological projects increase in scale and command ever higher costs, there is a growing need for better, quicker and smarter decisions and sharper business insights in the post-excavation process. There are four main things to consider if the post-excavation assessment is to be an effective project management stage:

1. the critical review or audit of newly amassed evidence is vital in determining what further analytical work is required for its interpretation and transmutation into hard or digital books of results and websites, and for retention for the permanent archive its conservation and display
2. the PXA & UPD stage should define a break-point in the budget leading to a refinement and negotiation of costs needed to complete the archaeological programme –excavation contracts should only be signed on this basis
3. the PXA is not the final archive report. Keep its narrative lean and embrace digital technology to support the text with tabulated information and high-quality photos. This will help curators to understand the rationale given in the UPD
4. specialist advice should be properly commissioned and followed. Get it early!

Kasia Gdaniec, ALGAO