ABSTRACT
The variety of organizations that deal with aspects of prehistoric archaeology in Britain is extremely large, and there is probably no country in the world with such variety and such lack of control over archaeological work. Perhaps the two are related, but it is more likely that the lack of control is due in great measure to an uninformed and therefore uncaring public. Yet the conundrum here is that Britain possesses amateur archaeologists that at least equal those of other nations in relative quantity, and excel them in quality. One of the reasons why excavations and field surveys in Britain are often considered to be of a relatively high standard in the eyes of outside interests is this large body of interested and skilled workers.
