Maintaining Standards

It is important that archaeological investigations in London are carried out to the highest standards. Archaeological excavation in particular is a destructive process and the records (written, drawn and photographic; as well as the artefacts and ecofacts) will be the only evidence of a site for future generations to understand it. Consistency of record keeping enables one site to be usefully compared to another. Such considerations are important in any investigation, whether secured through the planning process or independently of it.

We have a number of Guidance Papers that set out standards for archaeological work across Greater London, that we invite local authorities to endorse. The City of London have parallel guidelines. We base our guidance on that of the  ALGAO and  IFA, as well as a series of English Heritage papers (these can be found on the HELM website). We endorse the use of the Museum of London Site Recording Manual and the Museum  of London’s  London Archaeological Archive & Research Centre archive deposition guidelines.                             Museum of London Site Manual ©MoL                                              

In particular, we wish to ensure that adequate information is submitted in support of planning applications, to enable prompt and informed decisions to be made. Fieldwork and site recording should be done to commonly accepted standards and with compatible record-keeping, to allow inter-site comparisons. Post-excavation assessment should be comprehensive, and make appropriate proposals for publication. Publication and dissemination of the salient results of investigations should be prompt and of good quality. The ordered site records must be deposited with a suitable archive, to enable future research.

^{(Last Updated: 17th Jan. 2008 Robert Whytehead )}