current archaeology

128 BARNSBURY RD, LONDON, N.l. TEL. 01-278 2632

No. 9 JULY 1968

CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY IS EDITED BY ANDREW & WENDY SELKIRK AND PUBLISHED SIX TIMES A YEAR FOR A SUBSCRIPTION OF £1 (U.S. $3) A YEAR

The Winchester Research Unit

Printed in Great Britain by Bletchley Printers, Bletchley, Bucks (5,500)

SUBSCRIPTIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO : CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY 128 BARNSBURY ROAD LONDON, N.1

To understand large archaeological sites, especially towns, large excavations are needed. Yet as an excavation grows in size, so the problem of publication increases, and all too often the excavator after his success in the field with a host of volunteer helpers, is appalled to find himself faced with the problem of writing his report alone.

Abroad the problem has sometimes been met by setting up a research unit with the sole purpose of publishing the results of an excavation. It is therefore extremely gratifying that the principle is to be extended to this country; for thanks to a generous and imaginative grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation, a research unit will shortly be set up at Winchester, under the direction of Mr. Martin Biddle. The grant that makes this possible will be supplemented by the local and national authorities, and it is intended to spend five years in preparing the publication of a 15 volume excavation report.

The organisation that will publish the results will therefore be as systematic as that of the original excavation, and in making their grant the Gulbenkian have established the important principle that publishing is as much a matter of team work as excavation. Thus, the excavations at Winchester, already probably the biggest ever to take place in Britain, are to be followed by the fullest excavation report. The Winchester Research Unit has set a most valuable precedent for the future of British archaeology.

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