Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2011
Wetlands preserve evidence which no other landscape in western Europe can provide. The variety of wetlands is great and conditions for the survival of evidence and for archaeological work are equally varied. The quantity and quality of organic, and inorganic, evidence from wetland sites is now well documented by work in Denmark, Switzerland and Italy in particular, but most European countries have such special sites, where the abundance of evidence can enormously augment our knowledge of the past. The purpose of wetland archaeology must be to expand our very restricted data base into new areas of research, both cultural and environmental. A scheme for the development of priorities for wetland sites and areas may help to direct resources, but the threats to wetlands by current agricultural and other policies are particularly severe, and only concerted efforts will retain these areas in suitable condition for future preservation or examination.