Valuing ancient things

This is the first full-scale study to explore the relationship between archaeology and English law. Challenging the common assumption that preservation by law is simply a matter of pragmatics, the author shows that the corpus of 'heritage' laws covering the cultural and natural environments operates as an important vector of moral and cultural change, elevating the object out of the everyday world and into the higher realm of the public domain. By investigating the origins and historical development of English heritage laws during and since the nineteenth century, the book traces the effect of these laws on the development of archaeology. In particular, it studies the operation of contemporary law on archaeological and natural material, providing a firm theoretical basis for studies in the field of archeological heritage management in the future.

It locates the emergence of the idea of preservation in its wider social, political and disciplinary contexts, demonstrates the extent to which such law encouraged and contributed to the development of archaeology as a discipline, and shows how a particular style of law arose out of specific historical circumstance. It reveals finally, the contemporary three-stage process of valuation that operates today in all branches of preservation law.