ABSTRACT
The statistics of damage and destruction in Britain have been collated and are published elsewhere (Rahtz (ed.) 1974) and they have forced a fundamental debate here on archaeological policy. Is there any excuse, in the face of this widespread and inevitable devastation, for the archaeological destruction, in the name of research, of otherwise unthreatened sites; or should field archaeologists devote all their time and energy to rescue and salvage excavation? The crux of the debate is whether sites which are in no danger should be left untouched for future examination and the whole of our archaeological resources, both amateur and professional, used to rescue whatever information can be extracted from those sites that are imminently threatened.
