No Room For Archaeology Archives in 27% of English museums

A survey by the Society of Museum Archaeologists (SMA) has exposed a lack of storage space and curatorial expertise in English museums dealing with archaeological archives.

The survey of 134 museums found that 36 could not accept archaeological archives because of lack of space. It also revealed that museums in 47 local authorities were no longer collecting, while 70% of museums had no specialist archaeology curator. SMA chairwoman Gail Boyle said: “Many of the museums that responded are local authority museums that have no statutory funding, so they are often targeted [for cuts]. It has become prevalent over time and is getting worse. “Archaeological field units are having to store their work, as there is nowhere for them to deposit it.

The issues raised in the survey are to be the focus of the Archaeological Archives Forum in Birmingham on 7 March.

Patrick Steel, 'No room for archaeology archive in 27% of museums', Museums Journal Issue 113/03, p9, 01.03.2013