Heritage Agency Guidelines versus Industry Standards – A case study of the archaeological fieldwork guidelines of the Austrian Bundesdenkmalamt

Abstract

The Guidelines Archaeological Measures of the Austrian Federal Monuments Agency (BDA/“Bundesdenkmalamt”) on closer inspection turn out to be non-binding recommendations. In compliance with the methodology described within they become only obligatory if that is requested in the permit application. Any other recognised scientific methodology must also be permitted on application. As Anonymus (2021) demonstrated, regarding the Guidelines of the Westfalian agency for archaeology, it cannot be determined what kind of standard the Guidelines of the BDA actually are and what precisely their legal status is. They appear to serve mainly the convenience of the public officials. It is proposed that, rather than relying on state agency-imposed guidelines, reliable standards for archaeological excavation and recording should be developed through the standardisation process as determined by Austrian law in the Normengesetz 2016 for creating national norms.