Managing archaeological sites & the historic environment

There is no specific textbook giving advice on the management of archaeology and the historic environment. Basic guidance is available in the Historic Scotland booklet Managing Scotland's Archaeological Heritage (copies available from HS).

• General advice
• Access & Presentation
• Arable land and Cropmark sites
• Biodiversity studies
• Bracken treatment
• Buildings
• Burrowing Animals
• Cultivation remains
• Ditches
• Dykes
• Earthworks and Grassland Management
• Fencing and buffer zones
• Forestry
• Grants available
• Grassland & pastoral systems
• Hedges
• Landscape
• Moorland Management

General advice

• CSA Rural Guides
• English Heritage Farming the Historic Landscape: An Introduction for Farm Advisers

Access & Presentation

• Historic Scotland has considerable experience in presenting sites to the public and may be able to offer grants towards the cost of presentation. For further information contact Historic Scotland
• The access section of the Scottish Natural Heritage website lists a number of sources of information for interpretation and has a Case Study example of presentation at Knockan Cliff

Arable land and Cropmark sites

• CSA Farming Advice Note 1
• Managing Archaeological Sites in Arable Systems
• CSA Guide to Identifying and Managing Archaeological and Cropmark Sites
• Drainage & Archaeology
• Assessing risk and damage to cropmark sites using land surface curvature
  article by Andrew Burke first published in The Archaeologist, No. 47, Winter 2003
• Management of archaeological sites in arable landscapes
  A detailed and important study funded by DEFRA looking at the impact of arable agriculture on archaeological sites. It includes a series of Case Studies.

Biodiversity studies

The majority of environmental management information is related to improving biodiversity. The following sites are worth studying because they are relevant even though they make no reference to historic environment issues.

• The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group
  click on Virtual Farm Walks
• Research Vision (ReVise) in Action

Boundaries

Ditches

• CSA Farming Advice Note 26: Drainage

Dykes

• CSA Farming Advice Note 16: Dykes and stone-faced banks
• Drystone dyking association
  The association have an excellent website which includes a professional register of members.
  A useful series of publications and downloadable leaflets on styles and methods and technical and legal requirements is also available.
  This includes the 1996 CC The Condition of England's Drystone Walls.
  The examples are also worth looking at, including the restoration of a dyke to protect a hedge at Auchenlosh Farm, Dalbeattie.

Hedges

• CSA Farming Advice Note 18: Hedges & trees
• Establishment of a Register of Species-rich Hedgerows in Scotland
  A copy can be ordered from SNH.

Bracken treatment

• TAN 17 Bracken and Archaeology ISBN 1 900168 61 8, priced £5
  This publication can be ordered from Historic Scotland.
• Bracken Control A Guide to Best Practice
  A publication by the Southern Uplands Partnership and promoted by SEPA

Cultivation remains

• Guidelines for the Preservation of Areas of Rig and Furrow in Scotland

Building Restoration

• See Historic Scotland section of this website

Burrowing Animals

• TAN 16 Burrowing Animals and Archaeology ISBN 1 900168 60 X, priced £5
  This publication can be ordered from Historic Scotland.
• Rabbittrap.co.uk

Earthworks and Grassland Management

• CSA Farming Advice Note 11: Pasture and Stock

Fencing and buffer zones

• CSA Farming Advice Note 27: Fencing

Forestry, Woodland, Trees and Scrub

See separate entry Forestry and Archaeology - but also

• CSA Advice Note 18: Hedges & trees
• Clyde Valley Orchards Report
  Summary only - full copy available from SNH
• Agroforestry Toolbox
  Available as a CD-ROM and a website, to help farmers, land managers and advisers decide if silvopastoral agroforestry is a viable, alternative and beneficial land use on farm land, and provides practical information on how to set it up.

Grants available

• Grants for Ancient Monuments
  A guide to grants available for the preservation and management of ancient monuments

Grassland & pastoral systems

• CSA Farming Advice Note 11: Pasture and Stock
  Appropriate grazing for archaeological sites - see 'research'
• Pastoralism & its value in preserving the cultural heritage in Scotland
• The Pastoral Project
  The Pastoral Project is a European-wide study of the environmental and economic impacts of a reduction in grazing systems in Europe. Though not concerned directly directly with archaeology, it has important cultural heritage implications. The project is now completed, and its reports can be found on the website. This includes 8 information notes on the conservation importance of European pastoralism.

Landscape

• Landscape Study of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site
  Summary - a full copy can be ordered from SNH
• An Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes-Supplementary Volume 1. The Lothians 2001 (113pp £10 from TCRE, Historic Scotland)
• Islay House Designed Landscape Management Plan
  Summary - a full copy can be ordered from SNH

Moorland Management

• The Muirburn Code, Scottish Executive (website | PDF)
• Prescribed burning on Moorland: Supplement to the Muirburn Code (website | PDF)
• SNH Guide to Upland Habitat Management
  Can be ordered from SNH