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Abstract
Archaeology in 2009 is being adversely affected by a global economic crisis. This has followed a period of successful expansion of practice in many countries, and is now leading to reductions in budgets and job losses. Countries that have adopted a market-facing, commercial system to deliver archaeological management have been more seriously affected than those where the state has retained control over this process. In many states, capital expenditure by governments on infrastructure projects is supporting some archaeological practice. Government commitment to funding archaeological practice is likely to be unsustainable in the long-term, and post-crisis a return to private-sector funding of flexible commercial archaeological practice can be expected.
Acknowledgements
The author appreciates advice he has received from many colleagues in compiling this overview. The information and opinions they have provided have been invaluable, but responsibility for any errors or misinterpretations rests entirely with himself. Thanks to: Efthymia Alphas, Jeff Altschul, Corina Borş, Laura Farquharson, Adebayo Folorunso, Jan Frolik, Tim Howard, Inger Karlberg, Dirk Krausse, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Ehren Milner, William Moss, Mihaily Nagy, Yumiko Ogawa, Katsuyuki Okamura, Elif Ozer, Eva Parga-Dans, Vesna Pintaric, Nigel Sadler, Mark Spanjer, Eoin Sullivan, Monique van den Dries and all the participants to the stimulating debate at the Archaeology and the Global Crisis: Multiple Impacts, Possible Solutions session at the fifteenth Annual Conference of the European Association of Archaeologists held in Riva del Garda on 17 September 2009. He also wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers of this article whose insightful comments prompted some important revisions.
Institute for Archaeologists, UK