Fifty Yearss of London's ArArchaeology

ed edV Victoria Ridgeway, Ridg Diana Briscoe, Brisco Jenny Hall & Becky Bec Wallower Pre-ConstructPre-Co ArchaeologyArchae March 2 2020 £21.50 p pp183 pb isbn 978 9781999615550

In one of 18 substantial, heavily researched articles that make up this book, John Maloney notes that in 1988–89 archaeologists negotiated £5.56m (the equivalent of £15m today, plus “site facilities”) from London developers to help them record the City’s past. By then the Department of Urban Archaeology’s Site Manual had acquired a global reputation, and the archaeologists themselves were sometimes working overseas. Yet all this was before excavations at Huggin Hill (Roman baths) and Southwark (the Rose theatre) helped to bring to Parliament the fraught issue of how

to secure protection of remains from development. If future politicians seek to reduce developer obligations, it will do well to recall that in London many of those businesses had voluntarily stepped in before they were forced to do so. Saving archaeology is a common cause. And as these proceedings of a conference held to celebrate 50 years of London Archaeologist magazine make clear, the cause has a rich history in the capital, documented here by those who were there and will shape the future. This is well edited, with period photos and an index.