This analysis has been updated to cover the year 1994-95 and an account appears in this review. An aim of English Heritage funding following the appearance of PPG16 has been to direct resources to strategic projects for which no other funding is available. This policy is beginning to bear fruit and several such studies appeared in 1994-95. In the past four decades the amount of archaeological work undertaken on sites of the medieval period has increased dramatically, resulting in an enormous quantity of information and material finds - particularly ceramics. The report deals with the history of the subject and reviews the current situation along with imbalances in research.
Subsequent sections cover methodology, dissemination, archives, and bibliographies.
It then goes on to review the requirements of the profession and the future of ceramic research. Archaeologists have long been divided over metal detecting which many have accused of causing serious damage to archaeological sites through the undisciplined removal of artefacts from their context. Other archaeologists have regarded metal detecting as an invaluable aid to the investigation of the past. Opinion among metal detectorists is also divided between those who regard archaeologists as elitist intellectuals determined to prevent them from pursuing a legitimate hobby and those who work in harmony with archaeologists to a joint agenda and mutually agreed goals. Yet in the decade of metal detecting's popularity, no comprehensive study has been undertaken of its effect on archaeology, whether for good or ill.