Verkställighetsföreskrifter, uppdragsarkeologi och konservatorer - Konservatorns integrering inom uppdragsarkeologin
To increase the quality and the cost-efficiency of contract archaeology in Sweden a revisedregulation for contract archaeology was established the 1st of January 2008. By including findstrategy as a concept with special demands in the regulation the Swedish Heritage Board is nowhoping that the conservators will be integrated earlier in the archaeological process and that theunpremeditated find accumulations will stop. This is making the competition between thearchaeological companies even harder. The questions are how the regulation have affected therole of the conservators in the field of contract archaeology today, what is affecting theintegration and the situation, and what can the different stakeholders do to make the collaborationbetween archaeologists and conservators more professional? The conservators are now hopingthat this is the change that will increase the collaboration with the archaeologists, which isimportant for the finds prosperity and the drive of information.To get an updated and generalised view of the impact of the regulation so far, phoneconversations and questionnaires were carried out with archaeologists, conservators, employees atcounty administrative boards and the Swedish Heritage Board. The answers revealed a generallypositive attitude amongst the archaeologists about the conservators? integration in thearchaeological field. It also revealed that most of the archaeologists already are satisfied with thecontact they have with the conservators today, while the answers from the conservators provedthe opposite. It is still very rare that conservators are part of the practical fieldwork, where themost crucial stage for the finds takes place. The contact is still not constant and the understandingof what the conservators can do is not obvious, and therefore the lack of demand for more contactand practical help. It seems like we are getting closer to the goal, but the communication to abetter understanding is still missing and collaboration is scarce. The conservators have to claimtheir role in the archaeological field and explain their importance in the integration more clearly.If nothing is done, probably nothing will happen.