Survey of Archaeological Specialists 2016-17

This project surveyed archaeological specialists in early 2017 to generate data on human resources, costing and training issues across this part of the heritage sector. It builds upon the results of the Survey of Archaeological Specialists (Aitchison 2000), Survey of Archaeological Specialists 2010-11 (Aitchison 2011) and other special interest group reports to provide data suitable for workforce planning. The project ran in parallel with a comparable historic environment labour market intelligence project, Skills Needs in Buildings History and Garden History (Rocks-Macqueen 2017). These projects have both been delivered by Landward Research Ltd on behalf of the same clients, and have shared methodologies for data collection, analysis and reporting. This project has also investigated the potential impact on the sector of increasing demand for archaeological fieldwork (Hook et al. 2016) and of the United Kingdom's forthcoming departure from the European Union. It also indicates areas where potential skills losses might affect the capacity of the archaeological profession to provide specialist advice, allowing priority areas for the delivery of training to be identified.