ABSTRACT
The past decade has brought opportunity and concern in equal measure. New archaeology and planning policies have had a significant impact on the volume and nature of excavation undertaken in Britain and altered previously established patterns of funding and employment. On the one hand, there is now a higher level of public interest in archaeology, greater numbers of archaeologists at work and more resources to work with. Developers pay to record the archaeological deposits which might be damaged by their schemes and diminishing government funding has been channelled into other areas such as post-excavation costs. On the other hand, there is competition, uncertainty and little fieldwork is research-driven. Postprocessual archaeologies have affected a growing proportion of writing and some field practice which, in turn, has been the subject of further technical innovation.
