What's in Store?

TOWARDS A WELSH STRATEGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF AND ACCESS TO THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF OUR PAST

Background

In 2003 a partnership comprising The Council of Museums in Wales, National Museums & Galleries of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales commissioned a survey of the Welsh archaeological archive*. The survey, undertaken by Jane Henderson and Phil Parkes of Cardiff University, aimed at providing evidence of the extent and physical condition of archaeological archives relating to Wales that exist in museums, archaeological units, universities, other institutions and with independent archaeologists. The extensive survey led to a detailed report about the size and condition of the archive and included a number of recommendations. Following consultation within the profession eight recommendations emerged and these are outlined in the report What’s in Store? which was published and presented to Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport in March 2004.

Since the issues have relevance to all archaeological organizations working in Wales, it was appropriate that the Historic Environment Group could take on a strategic role in progressing the recommendations of the What’s in Store? report. To facilitate this, a delivery group comprising practitioners with detailed awareness of the issues was formed in March 2005 under the direction of the HEG to oversee the project.

Minutes from the meetings of the project group can be downloaded here, as well as a list of the members of the group.

* The Welsh Archaeological Archive is defined: All material from archaeological excavations, evaluations, site assessments and formal field walking projects from Wales. This includes all artefacts, human remains, environmental evidence e.g. bones and soil samples, paper records e.g. plans, notes and record sheets, photographic materials, digital records in any format e.g. specialist reports, conservation reports, archive reports and publications. This specifically excludes Non Welsh material such as ethnographic collections or Egyptology, single finds e.g. portable antiquities, non-portable archaeology such as monuments, historic buildings, crosses, standing stones or sites and industrial collections.

Welsh Archaeological Archives National Database Feasibility Study

A consultant has been appointed to undertake research into the cataloguing systems and facilities currently in place in Welsh museums holding archaeological material. This work is to be part of a two-stage project to establish the feasibility of providing and sustaining a web-based national database that is accessible remotely and inclusively to the public via the internet. It will ultimately aim to make available knowledge of the archaeological collections held in Welsh museums and to enable remote searching of their holdings. A brief for the project and current news can be found by downloading the following documents: -

Feasibility Study - Project Brief

Feasibility Study - Project News November 2005