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1 results

  • What haven't we found? Recognising the value of negative evidence in archaeology

  • Roger Thomas, Timothy Darvill
  • Journal:
    Antiquity / Volume 96 / Issue 388 / August 2022
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    21 June 2022, pp. 955-967
    Print publication:
    August 2022
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  • Large-scale development-led archaeology has changed the very nature of archaeological datasets. In addition to the familiar positive evidence of structures and deposits, there is now a wealth of ‘true-negative’ evidence: the confirmed absence of archaeological remains. Making good use of such data presents a challenge and demands new ways of thinking. Using case studies based on recent developer-led work in the UK, the authors suggest that focusing on ‘fingerprints’ of past human activity at a landscape scale provides a useful approach. The results argue in favour of changes to existing recording systems, as well as the need to integrate more fully both positive and negative evidence in archaeological interpretation.