in a sequence of objects displayed as art objects or collector’s items in a
museum gallery. The kitchens and the bathing arrangements in a house like
Longleat, Wiltshire, UK are at least as interesting as the paintings and ceramics.
However, the collections in a stately home need constant vigilance to ensure
that climate changes, insects and dust do not destroy the legacy. While the house
itself, like any building, needs constant repair to ensure that it will survive.
Any homeowner visiting a house like Longleat will recognise the problem
but the scale of the maintenance and repair programme on any building whether
it is a Cathedral, a Parish Church or a tollbooth is large and the needs are con-
stant and unavoidable. This cannot be entirely funded from public funds and
good interpretation and user-friendly display are essential if the site is to earn
enough income to support the project. Both commercial sponsors and the public
need to know that the site is well managed and that the future of the building
and its contents is secure.
2 From Discovery to Display
So the archaeologist has to have a plan that will ensure good management
from discovery to dissemination of information by popular and scientific
publications and by public display. He or she also needs good scientific advisors.
Certain constraints remain as tried and tested dogma:
- Sites should not be excavated unless they are threatened with destruction
or they fit into an agreed programme of research. - All excavation should be preceded by non-destructive survey.
- A full programme of investigation, excavation, conservation, scientific
analysis and publication must be agreed before work starts. - Funding should be in place or guaranteed from the start.
- All stabilisation and preservation treatments should be reversible.
While all these constraints are desirable it is rare for them all to be possible
before work begins and any programme must be monitored and reassessed as
work progresses. The importance of involving a multi-disciplined team in the
process of establishing and monitoring any programme cannot be overem-
phasised. Usually the archaeologist has to divide a programme into phases
and progress from one phase to another depends on the results of one phase
and the availability of funds.
Often a site is partially destroyed before the archaeologist is involved. This
occasionally happens on land sites if there is poor liaison between the archae-
ologists, the planners and the developers. This happens more often underwa-
ter where a site may be unexpectedly exposed by unusual storms or a change
in currents caused by the construction of sea defences or offshore dredging.
Introduction 3