Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads

Since the Second World War, archaeological remains in towns have come under increasing pressure: major construction works have led to considerable degradation of the archaeological record. From the 1970s onwards, there has been growing awareness of the vulnerability of archaeology in old towns, yet...

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Main Author: Jeroen Bouwmeester
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of York 2025-03-01
Series:Internet Archaeology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue70/7/index.html
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author Jeroen Bouwmeester
author_facet Jeroen Bouwmeester
author_sort Jeroen Bouwmeester
collection DOAJ
description Since the Second World War, archaeological remains in towns have come under increasing pressure: major construction works have led to considerable degradation of the archaeological record. From the 1970s onwards, there has been growing awareness of the vulnerability of archaeology in old towns, yet it was not until the introduction of the Malta legislation in 1992 that archaeological research in towns really took off. In the Netherlands, however, application of the legislation also has an obvious downside. With research being mainly documentary in character, synthesising research is lagging behind. In addition, it is not always clear where within the 19th- and 20th-century urban expansion archaeology can be expected, and what type of remains there will be. The effect of construction on the remains has also remained unclear for a long period of time. Research by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands has provided important insight into this. As a result, this article provides an agenda to address some of the key challenges faced by the field of urban archaeology.
format Article
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publishDate 2025-03-01
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spelling doaj-art-67920080e4e84df1b6da14e9c7124c252025-08-20T01:48:28ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872025-03-017010.11141/ia.70.7Urban Archaeology at a CrossroadsJeroen Bouwmeester0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7213-5946Cultural Heritage Agency of the NetherlandsSince the Second World War, archaeological remains in towns have come under increasing pressure: major construction works have led to considerable degradation of the archaeological record. From the 1970s onwards, there has been growing awareness of the vulnerability of archaeology in old towns, yet it was not until the introduction of the Malta legislation in 1992 that archaeological research in towns really took off. In the Netherlands, however, application of the legislation also has an obvious downside. With research being mainly documentary in character, synthesising research is lagging behind. In addition, it is not always clear where within the 19th- and 20th-century urban expansion archaeology can be expected, and what type of remains there will be. The effect of construction on the remains has also remained unclear for a long period of time. Research by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands has provided important insight into this. As a result, this article provides an agenda to address some of the key challenges faced by the field of urban archaeology.https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue70/7/index.htmlarchaeologyurban archaeologyurban renewalarchaeological preservationexpectation modelsdisturbance models
spellingShingle Jeroen Bouwmeester
Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads
Internet Archaeology
archaeology
urban archaeology
urban renewal
archaeological preservation
expectation models
disturbance models
title Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads
title_full Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads
title_fullStr Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads
title_full_unstemmed Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads
title_short Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads
title_sort urban archaeology at a crossroads
topic archaeology
urban archaeology
urban renewal
archaeological preservation
expectation models
disturbance models
url https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue70/7/index.html
work_keys_str_mv AT jeroenbouwmeester urbanarchaeologyatacrossroads