Issues and agenda in archaeological research and management: a case study from the Trent Valley, UK

This paper attempts to assess the strategic needs for future research and management of alluvial archaeology through a case study of the Trent Valley, Nottinghamshire, UK. This review is based on over ten years’ personal curatorial experience of alluvial archaeological research and management. Current constraints on archaeological management in the existing legislative framework are discussed and the concept of archaeology as capital is introduced and developed. This economic approach may provide a more flexible basis for the management of archaeological resources. Experience in the Trent Valley suggests that research and management is best achieved through a “bottom-up” approach of advancing upon a broad front, developing each element of the strategy as circumstances allow. In Nottinghamshire, the existence, scale, nature and value of the archaeology of the Trent Valley has been identified and the approach taken to understanding the resource has wider generic implications for strategies developed in other major river valleys, both nationally and internationally.