Our Vision 2025 – To Make Archaeology Matter
We want to live in a Scotland where archaeology is for everyone! A place where the study of the past offers opportunities for us now and in the future to discover, care for, promote and enjoy our rich and diverse heritage, contributing to our wellbeing and knowledge and helping to tell Scotland’s stories in their global context.
This Strategy has been developed by the Scottish Strategic Archaeology Committee, following a consultation in 2015.
Latest News –
Make a difference to the sector: join the Scottish Strategic Archaeology Committee!
The Committee driving forward Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy is recruiting new members with expertise in any of the following areas:
- Land management;
- Commercial archaeology;
- Archaeological Science.
We are also looking for a Young/ Early Career person to join us.
The Committee recognises the lack of diversity in both the Committee and in the wider sector and is working to address this. We know from our equality monitoring that we need to diversify representation on the Committee, specifically in terms of religion, ethnicity, educational attainment, disability and gender identity. We especially welcome applications from those who identify as part of an under-represented group within archaeology.
If you are interested, please send a very short biography of yourself together with a brief answer to each of the following questions:
- What experience do you bring to the Committee and how will you feed your knowledge/ experience into the work that SSAC does?
- How will the Strategy help with your experiences and networks?
- Do you consider yourself to be part of an under-represented group?
Please send this by 27 February to ArchaeologyStrategy@hes.scot
The Committee meetings are quarterly and hybrid – we are keen to adopt a flexible and inclusive approach in order to encourage more diversity in the committee. A focus group of the Committee in 2022 undertook an assessment of the current make-up of the Committee. We wish to reflect the diversity of the archaeology sector as it should be and recognise that the Committee is subject to the lack of diversity within the wider archaeological sector. To achieve this, recruitment for the Scottish Strategic Archaeology Committee will aim to over-represent those who have been marginalised, excluded, or under-represented within the archaeology sector in the past. Areas where the Committee has recognised a lack of diversity include:
- Gender identity: Non-binary/ intersex/ trans
- Ethnicity: non-white ethnicities
- Religion: varied religious backgrounds
- Education: we would value lived experience and expertise gained through non-traditional pathways.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Celebrating Archaeology in Scotland in 2022 Launched!
Click here to read about and view our latest issue of Celebrating Archaeology in Scotland. This is the fifth issue of the magazine, which is the annual report for Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy. Celebrating Archaeology in Scotland showcases the great work taking place across Scotland and promotes how people from all corners of the heritage sector are delivering the aims of Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy. This year’s issue covers a wide variety of subjects, from project updates and new research, to changes in heritage practice that will have a wide reaching impact on Scottish Archaeology.
Equality and Diversity Statement –
When we say We want a Scotland where archaeology is for everyone this means it will be inclusive. Scotland’s archaeological heritage will reflect the past and present diversity of its population, and this will allow everyone who seeks to experience, enjoy, study or work in archaeology to find a place for themselves in its practice. Those committed to delivering the Strategy must ensure that:
- All members of our archaeological community and stakeholders are treated with fairness, dignity and respect
- We uphold and value ‘protected characteristics’ and so will not discriminate on grounds of, including but not limited to, age, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or gender reassignment
- We will challenge inequalities and remove barriers to equality and diversity in archaeological activities.