Archaeology and Covid-19 in Scotland – resilience and recovery

Abstract

In Scottish politics, Health and Culture are both devolved matters, which means that policies in these areas are the responsibility of the Scottish Government, not the United Kingdom’s. Accordingly, the Scottish archaeological sector has developed a distinctive, strategic approach to archaeology, as presented in Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy (2015). This paper reviews how this policy nexus and strategic approach have been tested by the Covid-19 pandemic, firstly by exploring how the commercial archaeology sector in Scotland responded from the earliest days of the pandemic in order to protect lives and livelihoods, in an environment where lockdowns and furlough had to be balanced against the needs of clients to continue to deliver crucial construction projects. The paper will then examine the political impact and consequences of the ways that commercial archaeology has continued to work hand-in-hand with the public sector to ensure recovery through delivering Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy, looking at how this model approach is matched against Scotland’s National Performance Framework (which in turn is linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals).