Archives from fieldwork in Cambridgeshire are held at the County Archaeological Store, where they can be accessed by researchers whilst being maintained for future generations.
Why archive?
The archive should be the final outcome of any piece of archaeological fieldwork. Excavation usually destroys a site and in many cases the archive is the only record we have of that site. It represents 'Preservation by Record’ and our responsibility is to maintain that record.
County Archaeological Store
Archaeological archives are large and bulky, requiring space to store and expertise to manage, so Cambridgeshire County Council has a County Archaeological Store, maintained as part of the Historic Environment Record. We will accept material excavated within the county that is prepared to our standards and we currently hold nearly 6,000 boxes of material from over 750 sites.
What's in the archive?
The archaeological archive for each site consists of paper records, plans, specialist data, finds and other materials such as environmental samples, as well as copies of reports and photographs. A full specification for an archaeological archive is set out in English Heritage’s Management of Archaeological Projects (1991).
How are archives used?
The store is the long-term home for all archaeological material excavated in Cambridgeshire. We provide material to museums for temporary exhibitions, so a local museum can display recently excavated archaeological material without the burden of long-term storage requirements. We give access to researchers to study specific sites and material. We also supply teaching collections to Higher Education bodies, to help train the next generation of archaeologists, and we currently supply material to Birkbeck College (University of London) and to Peterborough Regional College.
Unfortunately it is not possible to provide full public access to the store at this time. We host a guided tour of the store every year and can occasionally arrange tours for local societies. Information about the tour is available through our event leaflet on our homepage. The events programme for 2009 has now come to an end, but please look again in early 2010 for the forthcoming year.
Advice on archiving
It is best practice for any archaeological project to prepare a final archive for future researchers to consult. This applies whether it arises either from a local amateur project or a major road scheme undertaken by the largest of commercial companies.
We operate standards for deposition, so any group or organisation considering depositing their archives can see what we require. These guidelines can be downloaded from this page. Should advice on any aspect of archiving be required, including information about the availability of antiquities conservation, please contact the Historic Environment Record.
Major collections
We hold material from many excavations, large and small. Cambridgeshire is one of the busiest counties in terms of archaeological fieldwork, all of which adds to the record. Our most important collections include: the prehistoric ritual complex from Eynesbury Hardwick, St Neots; sites from Roman Cambridge (including Shire Hall and Vicars Farm), Godmanchester and Littleport; Anglo-Saxon remains from Oakington, Barrington, Melbourn, Harston and Ely; and medieval remains from Ely and Cambridge.
Recent major accessions include the A1(M) services at Haddon, several sites from Cambridge City Centre and the nationally significant cemetery from Cherry Hinton.
Many of these archives are considered to be of national significance in terms of what they tell us about previous communities. The conservation and curation of such assemblages is a long-term obligation.