Expanded Excavation Index launched on the Internet
English Heritage National Monuments Record, the School of
Conservation Sciences at Bournemouth University and the
Archaeology Data Service are pleased to announce the release
and expansion of the Excavation Index for England.
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/
The Excavation Index (EI) is a guide to the archaeological excavations
and interventions carried out in England since the earliest days of
scientific archaeology, and an index to the location of the excavation
archives and finds. It was one of the first data sets made available
from the ADS and remains one of the most popular and useful tools for
archaeological research.
Funding from the Research Support Libraries Programme, has enabled a
consortium of partners to expand the Excavation Index to include all the
post 1990 consultancy work catalogued and reported by the Archaeological
Investigation Project (AIP) at Bournemouth University. AIP undertake
detailed studies on the nature and extent of archaeological fieldwork,
so the records they produce are a basic source of up to date information
on current and recent research.
Compiled & updated since 1978, the EI currently comprises some 60,000
records of archaeological events, the majority encompassing excavations,
evaluations & watching briefs since 1960, geophysical surveys and
fieldwork funded by English Heritage & its predecessors. The recent
addition to the Index of such activities as desk-based assessments and
fieldwalking reflects the changing nature of archaeological research in
England since the advent of developer funded study. The EI is updated
with information from a wide range of published and non-published
sources. Trawling of relevant journals, reports and monographs is
augmented by direct data exchange with a number of contractors and
curators across the country.
In addition to new records, the expansion has also allowed for new and
more descriptive fields to be included in the on-line version, including
bibliographic references and descriptive text.
The Excavation Index is integrated into the ADS catalogue, ArchSearch,
and is available free of charge at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/
For more on AIP, visit
http://csweb.bournemouth.ac.uk/consci/text_aip/aipintro.htm
For more on ADS, visit
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/
For more on the collections of the EH National Monuments Record, visit
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/knowledge/nmr/index.asp
--
William Kilbride
User Services Manager
Archaeology Data Service
Dept of Archaeology t 0044 (0)1904 433954
University of York f 0044 (0)1904 433939
England YO1 7EP, UK m 0044 (0)7967 128632
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk e [log in to unmask]
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