CBA Research
The CBA, since it was founded in 1944, has played a key role in promoting, supporting, facilitating and disseminating research in British archaeology. As an educational charity, we strive to:
- Advance the study and practice of archaeology
- Promote the education of the public in archaeology
- Conduct and communicate the results of relevant research
- Advance public understanding and care of the historic environment.
As well as providing research support for archaeology through publications, biab online, our various information services and ArchLib, the CBA also conducts its own research, guided by our strategic objectives.
In its own research, the CBA focuses specifically on applied research (that is, research to acquire new knowledge but directed primarily towards a specific practical objective) to support its programmes in education, public participation and environmental protection. Over the last 10 years the CBA has led research in key areas such as the impact of metal detecting on archaeology, television archaeology and the media, education outside the classroom, and the assessment of information and data management needs for the historic environment.
One of its largest sustained research projects in recent years was the Defence of Britain and Defence Areas projects (1995–2005) which included a major field programme involving over 600 volunteers across the UK in the recording of nearly 20,000 twentieth-century military sites.
The CBA is currently conducting research relating to the organisation’s central aim to increase opportunities for participation and learning through archaeology. Priority areas for research in partnership with HEIs and other bodies in the sector are:
- Archaeology in the classroom and beyond: developing local and national identities
- Social outcomes and impacts of community archaeology and conservation projects
- Adapting archaeology: mediating climate change histories
- Innovation in managing digital media and serving up archaeological information to a wide audience
More specifically, the CBA is currently carrying out the following projects:
We also publish the CBA Research Bulletin, an occasional series dedicated to research supported or commissioned by the Council for British Archaeology.
