Archaeology

The county council archaeologists are split between two sections - some are within the 'Museums' section and some are within the 'Historic & Natural Environment Team'. The Museums archaeologists deal with community archaeology - if you'd like to get involved with local archaeology groups then this is where you should go. They also manage and develop the Archaeology Collections. The HNET archaeologists deal with planning archaeology, the Historic Environment Record and Historic Landscape Characterisation.

The Museums archaeologists look after various aspects of Community Archaeology including the Leicestershire & Rutland Archaeological Network and the Portable Antiquities Scheme. They also liaise with local groups such as Leicestershire Fieldworkers . The Museums archaeologists manage and make available the Archaeology Collections of objects and archives, which represent the archaeology of Leicestershire.

One of our team members recently finished working on a major county-wide project (Historic Landscape Characterisation), which started in 2006 and is due to be published imminently.

The team also keeps the Historic Environment Record up to date. This contains all known archaeological sites in Leicestershire and Rutland as well as other historic features such as Scheduled Monuments, Listed Buildings, Battlefields, etc.

The main job of the team, however, is to check planning applications against the archaeological record and give appropriate advice to districts and boroughs throughout Leicestershire and Rutland (Planning Archaeology).

If you'd like to find out more about Leicestershire's past, here are some links to other websites that might be of interest...