Digital Archiving in Archaeology: The State of the Art. Introduction

Abstract

The articles in this special issue demonstrate significant differences in digital archiving capacity in different countries. In part these reflect differences in the history of archaeology in each country, its relationship to the state, whether it is centralised or decentralised, state-led or commercially driven. They also reflect some of the different attitudes to archaeology across the world, most recently explored in a survey conducted under the auspices of the NEARCH project. They reflect a snapshot in time, but our aim is to record the current state-of-the-art in each country, to inform knowledge, stimulate discussion, and to provoke change.