Quality Management in Archaeology deals with the effects of the profound changes that have had an impact on the discipline of archaeology all over the world. In North America, in Europe and increasingly in other parts of the world, new legislation and international treaties have changed its position in society. What was once a university based research activity by a limited number of academics has become a socially relevant field with many practitioners that are mostly employed in some branch of archaeological resource management. Archaeology has been successful in persuading governments and the general public that more should be done to preserve archaeological heritage and to investigate it where it will be irretrievably lost. The scale and frequency of archaeological work has increased vastly, at considerable cost to society. Consequently, there is pressure to do the work efficiently and economically. At the same time, academic standards have to be maintained to assure that the end result will be the relevant knowledge about the past that society pays for. Different countries have found different approaches and solutions to deal with this dilemma. Sometimes commercial archaeology is allowed, sometimes it is not, but in every national context quality has to be managed in some way. This book presents a survey by specialists from the US, Canada, and several European countries on how this is done, what the principles are, and also the priorities. It will be useful for anyone interested in archaeological resource management.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of contributors
• 1. The origins and development of quality assurance in archaeology: Willem Willems and Monique van den Dries
• 2. Archaeology and heritage management in Germany: Jeanne-Nora Andrikopoulou-Strack
• 3. Quality management and Irish commercial sector archaeology: Margaret Gowen
• 4. Quaestors, quality and quantity: archaeology and the National Roads Authority in Ireland: Dáire O’Rourke
• 5. Quality assurance in archaeology, the Dutch perspective: Monique van den Dries and Willem Willems
• 6. Quality management in Romanian archaeology: Mircea Angelescu
• 7. Always fluid: government policy making and standards of practice in Ontario archaeological resource management: Neal Ferris
• 8. Quality management of archaeology in Great Britain: present practice and future challenges: Peter Hinton and David Jennings
• 9. Cultural resource management guidelines and practice in the United States: Evan Peacock and Janet Rafferty
• 10. Scientific quality control and the general organisation of French archaeology: Jean Paul Demoule
• 11. Making it matter: towards a Swedish contract archaeology for social sustainability: Per Lekberg