ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In 1977 Steve Roskams started at the Museum of London (MoL), Department of Urban Archaeology (DUA), to apply Single Context Planning (SCP), using a fixed site-grid system and a stratigraphic matrix. Recently he published his views on contemporary fieldwork and stratigraphic analysis (Roskams 2001). The excavation methods of the Museum of London were published as the Archaeological Site Manual (4th edition 1994, purchased through molas.org.uk). This post-excavation manual uses the MoL excavation method and builds on experience gained in field archaeology and stratigraphic analysis at the Museum of London during 1976-98.

Many London archaeologists have contributed to improve SCP post-excavation methods during the 1980s. Those who worked as post-excavation supervisors are mentioned here in chronological order: Steve Roskams and his team compiled the first field archives in the DUA according to the Frere Report (1975). Post-excavation supervisors thereafter were Patrick Allen (1980-84), Friederike Hammer (1985-92), Andrew Westman (1987-98) and Liz Shepherd Popescu (1988-91).

Four editions of a post-excavation manual were prepared by the DUA for internal use, the 3rd volume was edited by John Schofield and written by Tim Williams with contributions of Friederike Hammer, Charlotte Harding & Richard Lea (1986-89). Andrew Westman with Liz Shepherd compiled the 4th edition (1991), which also provided the basis for this manual. Nick Bateman developed a slightly different way of structuring contexts for the Guildhall Yard report (GAG87, 1989), this became influential for the database structure.

The SCP method has migrated with colleagues to other units: Andy Boddington published the first SCP Site Manual for Northamptonshire County Council (1978), and together with Mary Morgan he wrote a comprehensive manual on Excavating Inhumations (1979). Peter Clark compiled an excavation and post-excavation manual for the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust (SUAT 1988). Other colleagues brought the method to Chelmsford/Essex, Bedford, Norwich and many other places (Hammer 1992).

Finally, many thanks to Steve Roskams, David Mitchel and Ian Lawson who made comments on the manual from the expert's and user's point of view, and to the editors Klaus Hammer and Ian Blair.

These web pages were created in 2003, by Derilyn Frusher, with assistance from Robert Frusher