Using and understanding archaeological archives

The ‘archive’ is the sum total of the evidence recovered from a dig. It is a particularly precious resource because archaeology is a destructive process.

Unearthing one deposit usually involves removing another, and so whereas a scientific experiment can normally be repeated, an archaeological site can never be ‘re-excavated’. Be it a Roman house, a medieval wharf or a Victorian cellar, once it has been excavated, it survives only in the archive (and in the short memories of the diggers themselves).

To be described as such, an archaeological archive must always contain some form of site records: descriptions, drawings and/or photographs of the structures, deposits or features that were found. Depending on the size and nature of the project, it may also contain:

• artefacts
• animal or human remains
• botanical samples;
• correspondence or other documentation that throws light on the conduct of the project;
• reports and/or analyses of the site or aspects of it, carried out a ‘post-excavation’ stage.

As one might expect, archives completed today tend to be very much more comprehensive than those completed a hundred years ago.