Quote:
Through the 80s BUFAU had flourished but government policies were changing and in 1988 funding through the Manpower Services Commission was coming to an end.Like many managers of archaeological units at the time I stared forlornly into my beer and wondered what we were going to do.Fortunately, largely through the efforts of Geoff Wainwright, English Heritage’s Chief Archaeologist, things were about to take a turn for the better.November 1990 saw the introduction of the DoE’s ‘Planning Policy Guidance Note 16’ (PPG 16), whereby archaeology became a ‘material consideration’ in the planning process and through which the principle that the ‘polluter pays’ became enshrined.Thus from the beginning of the 1990s onwards, developer funding became the principal source of funding for the work

Martin Locock Wrote:For the UK I think the trajectory is something like:
1960s major government projects (eg motorways) trigger state archaeological response with additional funding from the Dept Transport etc

mid 1970s govt funding goes to external units to undertake rescue work, some major private developments pay towards archaeology

early 1980s shift towards developers funding major arch costs (post-consent)

1989 PPG16 (England) introduces polluter pays principle to planning, pre-determination evaluation

Quote:even further back St Helena was funding excavations in Jeruslaem (320AD)