Analysing Maritime Archaeological Archives

"Research to understand the nature and scale of the problems faced by maritime archaeological archives is presented within this volume. Subjects covered include a review of coastal museums and their approach to maritime archaeological archives and presentation of the results of an extensive survey which sought to discover where archives are held, their composition and issues of access ownership and storage. Further in-depth consideration of the maritime archaeological archive backlog within England has identified where incomplete or low levels of analysis and publication are hampering access to past investigations and impacting on the development of the discipline. Maritime archaeological archives provide challenges for museums, archaeological, heritage management and special interest groups involved in their creation and management. The various regulatory regimes and development frameworks impacting their production, curation and deposition are examined and situations where work on sites falls outside of any management processes identified. Issues related to roles and responsibilities for the overseeing of archive flow from seabed to repository are scrutinised along with a range of systemic and practical issues which need to be addressed to ensure a more positive future for these significant archives."--Back cover (page 4 of cover).