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 Archaeology News : Maritime & Marine Historic Environment Research Framework for England |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 14/5/2009 14:04:20 (794 reads) | |||
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English Heritage has commissioned the Centre of Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southampton to co-ordinate the development of a research framework for the maritime, marine and coastal archaeology of England. The research framework will provide a coherent overview of previous research into the maritime and marine historic environment of England, in order to enable long-term strategic planning, to inform policy and to provide a statement of agreed research priorities within which researchers can shape projects. In order for this to be both a successful reflection of the current state of knowledge and a vehicle by which the key research questions for this diverse community can be identified, it is essential that all those involved in the maritime, marine or coastal archaeology of England, from the academic, commercial and voluntary sectors, are involved in its creation. To this end we are inviting as many stakeholders as possible to be involved in the process. download the full document here. Project's website. |
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| Archaeology News : Scotland's historic environment vital to economic sustainability |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 14/5/2009 11:47:13 (794 reads) | |||
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Scotland's historic environment vital to economic sustainability Scotland’s rich legacy of historic buildings, monuments and archaeology contributes more than £2.3 billion to the Scottish economy and is a key factor in ensuring sustained economic growth, according to research published on 11 May 2009. A new report from the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland (HEACS) shows Scotland’s historic environment has a vital role in supporting jobs and promoting tourism. The research found that the historic environment: • Supports more than 60,000 full time employees • Contributes in excess of £2.3 billion to Scotland’s GVA (gross value added) • Supports 20,000 employees in the construction industry and 37,000 in tourism • Accounts for 2.5 per cent of Scotland’s total employment. The impact of these findings will be discussed at the HEACS national conference, which is being opened by the Culture Minister, Past Forward: Celebrating and Promoting Our Historic Environment, to be held at Dynamic Earth on May 20. To read the report and to find more information on the conference visit the heacs website. |
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| Archaeology News : IfA - Job Losses report, new survey results |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 28/4/2009 10:13:34 (1136 reads) | |||
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The economic downturn continues to have a direct and negative effect upon archaeology. Over a very short period, archaeology has been transformed from a briskly expanding profession to one that is losing trained staff rapidly. Following the loss of 345 archaeological jobs in the three months from 1 October 2008 to 1 January 2009 (reported on 21 January 2009), a further 195 jobs are estimated to have been lost from the profession in the period from 1 January 2009 to 1 April 2009. Since the summer of 2007, approximately 670 jobs have been lost. This figure represents 1 in 6 (16.5%) of all commercial archaeological posts, which equates to nearly 10% of all the jobs in professional archaeology that existed in 2007. At least one archaeological practice has ceased trading. Smaller organisations (employing less than 20 people) have been most heavily affected in the first three months of 2009; in the final quarter of 2008, it was larger organisations (employing more than 50 people) that were hardest hit. Further job losses are anticipated in the quarter to the end of June 2009. The employers of 25% of the staff at all respondent organisations do not expect to be able to maintain current staffing levels. This remains very significantly high, although it is a marked reduction from the January 2009 figure, when the organisations employing 66% of the total number of archaeologists working for respondents expected to lose staff. Business confidence remains poor (although not at as such low levels as were reported in January 2009), with most employers expecting the situation to deteriorate further in the coming twelve months and for more commercial archaeological businesses to cease trading. These job losses mean that the profession is losing skilled workers. Fieldwork skills are being lost, with the skills of junior fieldworkers (contributors to excavation, historic building and other surveys) being particularly badly affected. The latest report can be downloaded here. |
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| Archaeology News : IfA - Minutes of IfA/ALGAO/FAME recession meeting available |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 27/4/2009 13:41:24 (775 reads) | |||
| On 23 March 2009, representatives of IfA, ALGAO and FAME met to agree how the three organisations will work together to get through the recession. The minutes of this meeting can be found at the bottom of the recession page. |
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| Archaeology News : IfA - Minimum Salaries 2009/10 |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 2/4/2009 13:58:14 (996 reads) | |||
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As agreed by IfA Council last year, from 1 April 2009 the annual rise in IfA minimum salaries ceased to be linked to the local government pay deal. The increase for 2009/10 is determined by the rate of inflation, taken from the Consumer Price Index on April 1, which was 3.2% Full details of current minimum salaries can be found on the salary minima page. |
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| Archaeology News : AVECO Recession Support website |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 30/3/2009 13:30:59 (806 reads) | |||
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Colleagues may be interested in the content of the recession support website put together by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. It offers practical advice on surviving and leading through the recession. Some new sections on finance advice and support will be added soon. IfA is not responsible for the content of external websites. |
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| Archaeology News : House of Lords Question |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 11/3/2009 10:36:48 (970 reads) | |||
| The House of Lords discussed the issue of job losses in archaeology on 9 March 2009 following a question from the Earl of Glasgow. The discussion can be read here. |
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| Archaeology News : IfA - New Member Benefit, 15% discout at Cotswold Outdoor |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 10/3/2009 13:19:09 (769 reads) | |||
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IfA members can now get a 15% discount at Cotswold Outdoor. Please quote 'Institute of Field Archaeologists' at the till and present your membership card. The discount is also available for phone and online orders. Please note this discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. If you have difficulty using this offer please contact the IfA office. |
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| Archaeology News : IfA - HMS Victory; further update |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 12/2/2009 9:11:52 (1491 reads) | |||
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HMS Victory further update Further to the bulletin posted on the 5th February, the IfA welcomes • the statement that the Ministry of Defence regards the agreement entered with regard to HMS Sussex as a ‘stand-alone’ agreement and does not regard it as creating a precedent for the handling of other historic wrecks • the statement by the Department for Culture Media and Sport that English Heritage is to assess the wreck. We look forward to the prompt publication of that report and would find it helpful, should the wreck prove to be that of HMS Victory (or any other vessel of historic interest) for government to confirm that it will be dealt within accordance to the Annex to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. We would also urge government, in handling this matter, to ensure, as far as is possible, that its expectations of commercial salvors are consistent with those it has of sports divers (who are enjoined fully to respect our common maritime heritage). The following is a statement issued by the IfA’s Maritime Affairs Group (MAG) in relation to this matter “Due to the recent press coverage of the discovery of HMS Victory and the stated intention to recover these remains by Odyssey Marine Exploration, MAG provides the following position statement in relation to the commercial excavation of shipwrecks and the application of this regarding this recent case. The IfA is a professional institute for the study and care of the historic environment. It promotes professional standards and ethics for conserving, managing, understanding and promoting enjoyment of the heritage. The IfA’s Maritime Affairs Group (MAG), to which most professional maritime archaeologists belong, exists to • advance the practice of maritime archaeology by promoting professional standards for the management, conservation, understanding and enjoyment of the maritime archaeological resource • provide advice and commentary to the IfA on matters relating to maritime archaeology • aid in the development of professional guidelines and standards for the execution of maritime archaeological work • promote the training of archaeologists and others in maritime archaeological practice • facilitate the exchange of information and ideas about maritime archaeological and to communicate these to the wider profession The MAG position is that historic wrecks in any waters are important and non-renewable resources and, as such, should be left in situ, unless they are under severe threat, in which case systematic archaeological research with a clear project design should be undertaken. The results of such research and any excavation of material remains should be deposited within a publicly accessible museum or archive to ensure their long-term preservation, availability for enjoyment by members of the public, study and reinterpretation by researchers, and access for children and educational programmes. Commercial salvage, which relies on the sale and dispersal of shipwreck artefacts and archive material with the motivation to profit from such activity, is not within recognised best archaeological practice. MAG considers such commercial practice unacceptable. The MAG position is therefore in line with the British government statement with regards to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. On 24 November 2008, Barbara Follett (Minister for Culture, Creative Industries & Tourism) stated that the Government's maritime heritage policy recognises the 2001 UNESCO Convention Annex as best practice for underwater archaeology and have advocated adherence to the principles of this Annex which are compatible with existing UK legislation. This approach has recently been displayed by the UK Government where DCMS references the Annex to the UNESCO Convention in the issuing of Licences for investigations on sites designated under Section 1 of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage can be found at: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13520&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Of particular note are rules 2 and 9 of the annex. Rule 2 states that ‘The commercial exploitation of underwater cultural heritage for trade or speculation or its irretrievable dispersal is fundamentally incompatible with the protection and proper management of underwater cultural heritage. Underwater cultural heritage shall not be traded, sold, bought or bartered as commercial goods.’ Rule 9 of the Annex requires that ‘Prior to any activity directed at underwater cultural heritage, a project design for the activity shall be developed and submitted to the competent authorities for authorization and appropriate peer review’. It is therefore crucial that the rules stated in the UNESCO Convention Annex are followed in the case of HMS Victory. HMS Victory as a warship is a sovereign immune vessel in international law. It is therefore exempt from salvage services unless the Flag State consents to such services . In the case of HMS Victory, salvage cannot occur unless the UK consents to such salvage taking place. This work therefore can be stopped merely by the UK declining to give such consent.” |
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| Archaeology News : Disability and the Archaeological Profession - Call for Participants |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 22/1/2009 15:51:10 (918 reads) | |||
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Archaeology at the University of Reading have been commissioned by English Heritage to carry out a project looking at disability within the archaeological profession working in close consultation with the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) as a major stakeholder. The brief is to produce good practice guidelines for the employment of disabled archaeologists in the profession. These are to be based on the good practices already being followed by employers and employees. The guidelines will be published as an IfA Professional Paper. The project team is looking for participants willing to tell their story, whether this be positive or negative. We are very eager to talk to anyone who has had experiences of disability within archaeology, either at a personal level, with the people they have worked alongside or supervised, interviewed or employed. We are interested in talking to people about all aspects, including the less obvious things such as dyslexia, diabetes, asthma, RSI and so forth. All the information will be used anonymously and presented in such a way that no individual or organisation can be identified. The participants will also be invited to comment on the draft of the guidelines. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact: Dr Tim Phillips 0118 3788293 t.j.phillips@reading.ac.uk |
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| Archaeology News : IfA - Job Losses in Archaeology - report available |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 21/1/2009 9:44:52 (2366 reads) | |||
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Job Losses in Archaeology Late in 2008, anecdotal information was coming to the attention of the IfA that the economic decline, and in particular the slump in housing construction, was having a negative impact on commercial archaeological practice. Together with FAME (the Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers), IfA has approached a selection of archaeological employers to gather statistical data on any job losses in the sector in order to substantiate the impact of the current economic situation and to support the archaeological profession as a whole through this period of uncertainty. We have found that the economic downturn has had a direct effect upon archaeology. While over the previous five years, the number of people working in archaeology had been expanding by approximately 4% per annum, many archaeological organisations lost staff over the three months to the end of 2008. In total, 345 archaeological jobs may have been lost in the quarter from 1st October 2008 to 1st January 2009, representing 8.6% of the jobs in commercial archaeology and 5.0% of the entire UK archaeological workforce. Larger organisations (those that were employing over 50 staff in 2007) have been particularly heavily affected. Significant numbers of organisations anticipate further job losses in the quarter to the end of March 2009. Most of the organisations that anticipate further losses have already lost staff in the period to 1st January 2009. Business confidence is very poor, with most employers expecting the situation to further deteriorate in 2009 and for some archaeological practices to cease trading. IfA will repeat this survey in April 2009, reporting the results on its website and tracking changes in the situation until further notice. The report can be downloaded here. |
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| Archaeology News : User requirements for List of Heritage Assets - thanks from English Heritage |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 19/1/2009 10:45:06 (847 reads) | |||
| A report undertaken for English Heritage by external consultants (Jura) into the user requirements for access the new integrated List of Heritage Assets (referred to in the report by its former title of the register) has just been made public. English Heritage would like to thank all those members of IfA who contributed to this research either by attending a focus group or completing the online questionnaire. The user requirements highlighted by this research will inform a specification being developed by English Heritage for the delivery of the new List via the internet. Internet delivery of the List information is not dependent upon the HPR legislation as it will involve updating and integrating our systems, and the dissemination of the data they contain. The report highlights the need to provide access to the register both independently and alongside other resources as part of the Heritage Gateway (www.heritagegateway.org.uk). It suggests a variety of text and map based searching options, as well as variety of outputs to meet the requirements of a range of users. The full report can be found here. |
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| Archaeology News : Queen's Speech |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 4/12/2008 9:44:13 (1138 reads) | |||
| As you will most likely be aware, the Heritage Protection Bill was not included in yesterday's Queen's Speech. The following responses have been released by The Archaeology Forum and Cadw. |
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| Archaeology News : PPG 16 at 18 |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 21/11/2008 10:16:07 (1130 reads) | |||
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PPG 16 at 18 Planning Policy Guidance note 16: Archaeology and Planning was published on 21 November 1990, 18 years ago today. Happy birthday PPG 16, you are British archaeology's most most important ever document. Following the publication of PPG 16, local authorities had to take archaeology into consideration when deciding planning applications. This meant that developers often had to provide more information before their application for planning permission was determined, which led to a huge expansion in the number of desk based assessments and field evaluations being undertaken, and also to a great deal of post-determination work once permission had been granted (or as a condition to allow that permission to go ahead) - the excavation as mitigation which leads to preservation of the archaeological remains by record. It also meant that financial responsibilities were well and truly passed from the state to private enterprise - the developers - who were now also able to choose who they wanted to undertake the archaeological work on their behalf. And this led to the rapid expansion of private sector archaeology over the eighteen years since (6,865 professional archaeologists in 2007, up from 2,200 in 1991). By 2006, 93% of all archaeological investigations had been instigated through the planning process (figures from the Archaeological Investigations Project), and 58% of archaeologists' jobs relied on funding through this process (from Profiling the Profession: Labour Market Intelligence 2007/8. Development-led archaeology is the mechanism through which British archaeology is undertaken, and it is the humble guidance note PPG 16 that has been fundamentally responsible for the shape of British archaeological practice today. |
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| Archaeology News : New CIRIA publication |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 8/9/2008 14:32:35 (1071 reads) | |||
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The CIRIA publication 'Archaeology and development: A good practice guide to managing risk and maximising benefit (C672)' has been published . It is available through the CIRIA website for £80 (£40 for CIRIA members). |
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| Archaeology News : IFA - 'Settings' working group: draft report published |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 12/8/2008 11:29:56 (1151 reads) | |||
| The Working Group on the Setting of Cultural Heritage Features has published a draft report, authored by George Lambrick. Comments on this document are welcome to Paul Masser (paul@headlandarchaeology.com). |
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| Archaeology News : New Climate Change Website |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 8/8/2008 10:35:53 (1090 reads) | |||
| English Heritage has launched a new climate change website www.climatechangeandyourhome.org.uk. The website aims to help owners of traditionally constructed houses understand the potential impacts of climate change on their properties and how simple building maintenance can help to lessen the effects of increasingly extreme weather. |
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| Archaeology News : inscription of the Antonine Wall approved as world heritage site |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 9/7/2008 10:16:00 (866 reads) | |||
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On Monday 7 July 2008 the World Heritage Committee unanimously approved the inscription of the Antonine Wall as a World Heritage Site, as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. IBelow is David Breeze's 'acceptance speech': Madam Chair, Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen On behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, I should like to thank the World Heritage Committee for extending the trans-national Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site by the inscription of the Antonine Wall in Scotland. We would like to recognise and thank the State Party of Germany for their support and collaboration in developing the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. We are also particularly grateful to the Scottish Government and the 5 local authorities along the line of the Antonine Wall – Falkirk, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, East and West Dunbartonshire – for their active support in bringing this nomination to fruition. This current extension of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site will give great encouragement to other countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East which contain elements of Roman frontiers and who are interested in joining this significant multi-national project. The idea of creating trans-national World Heritage Sites is an excellent way of aiding international understanding and co-operation, of celebrating our shared common heritage and developing linked protection and management frameworks. Although frontiers usually divide, this particular frontier seeks to break down barriers. Finally, may I congratulate the City of Quebec on its 400th anniversary and you yourself on your calm and exemplary chairing of this meeting. David J Breeze Co-ordinator of the Antonine Wall World Heritage Site |
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| Archaeology News : Archaeology Forum evidence to CMS Select Committee |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 2/7/2008 9:07:35 (877 reads) | |||
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Gill Chitty (CBA) and Pete Hinton(IFA) did an excellent job on the morning of 1 July on behalf of the Archaeology Forum handling questions from the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee on the topic of the proposed draft heritage protection bill. Anyone wanting to follow the evidence session can watch online at: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=2165&rel=ok The final 25 minutes involved Gill and Pete representing the Archaeology Forum. The first part of the session features a team of various local government representatives including Jan Wills representing ALGAO, so archaeology got a good hearing throughout the session. |
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| Archaeology News : Historic Environment Traineeship (HET) Scheme |
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| Posted by ifa-admin on 27/5/2008 11:06:37 (1065 reads) | |||
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The Historic Environment Traineeship (HET) Scheme is an exciting new English Heritage initiative being launched for historic environment practitioners. A small number of two-year professional work placements will be available under the Scheme which will provide work-experience training in the application of professional skills in a planning and development context. Placements will be provided, supervised and administered by English Heritage. The placements are designed for individuals with the appropriate academic background who wish to pursue a career in historic environment management, but will also be open to those with relevant experience wishing to extend or change the direction of their career. The programme will enable the "Trainee Historic Environment Advisors" to enhance both the depth of their specialist knowledge and the breadth of their inter-disciplinary awareness. Trainees will receive high quality training from English Heritage in a range of historic environment management activities. Work units may also include secondment or work-shadowing to another relevant organisation. In the second year, trainees will undertake a project the content of which will be agreed by English Heritage. If you wish to express an interest in receiving further information about the HET Scheme when it is formally advertised, please send an email with your contact details to train@english-heritage.org.uk |
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