Impact of the Portable Antiquities Scheme

Principal investigator: Steve
Level: Masters degree

My dissertation will look at the the first ten years or so of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the impact the scheme has had on the Archaeology of the West Midlands region and its contribution to our understanding of the historical landscape, from its inception in 1997 to the last major review of the scheme in 2008 (MLA Review).

Firstly and mainly, and largely through the use of PAS data, my dissertation will attempt to assess the spatial patterning of finds across the region, to look at the types of finds in order of their chronology and displacement and discuss what this is saying about the region and the significance of this and the extent to which the PAS has contributed to our understanding and therefore, the effectiveness or otherwise of the scheme.
Also, to a assess the benefits obtained from a PAS scheme, what these are and to what extent have expectations been fulfilled in the region, and consequently the need for such a scheme?

Secondly, some other areas for discussion (space dependent) may also include:
Affects of the scheme in the public domain, public perceptions and attitudes towards the retention and disposal of artefacts; its success or otherwise in raising public awareness through available data obtained via outreach, surveys and suchlike.

The affects of legislation, metal detecting and night hawking in the region.
To compare and contrast any differences in the application and practice of the scheme between the different counties in the region where they exist.
Compare similar schemes in other regions such as Austria, can we learn anything from other systems?
Has the PAS affected the way we do archaeology? Hopefully some views and thoughts from practitioners in the region.
The affects of the current era of financial constraint, is it affecting the application of the scheme in the region? And how.
Archaeologist and Detectorist debate, will there ever be full ‘compromise’, what is the current state of relationships in the region and where issues have occurred (if any), what these are or were and how these were resolved and so on.

It is hoped that this will provide an insight into the operation of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in one region of the UK for comparative purposes, and show its effectiveness or otherwise and stimulate further debate/discussion on any of the issues raised, proposals for reform and so on.

Audit data

• Created: 12 years ago
• Created by: Daniel Pett