The mesolithic and the planning process in England

This thesis examines the situation of Mesolithic archaeology in the commercial sector as
it was encountered under the aegis of PPG 16 in England, from 1990 to 2009. 1280
interventions make up the dataset, exclusively produced by developer-led
investigations, and are derived from the grey literature. The large amount of fieldwork
that is conducted in the commercial sector far outstrips that conducted by academics.
Consequently, the large amount of reports that have been produced, and the nature of
their archiving, has left academics and the public with little knowledge o f the work that
has been conducted. Therefore, this thesis represents a necessary and timely response to
a neglected dataset.
Three main themes are investigated. Firstly, the varied methodologies and the sequence
of investigation are assessed for beneficial and detrimental aspects of fieldwork as it is
conducted on projects incorporating solely Mesolithic archaeology and that of all
periods. Secondly, communication between academia and the commercial sectors is
assessed from the perspective o f the grey literature, detailing strong points and
shortcomings therein. Finally, the archaeological remains that have been reported on
are examined, both to characterise the nature of Mesolithic archaeology from developerfunded projects and to examine the potential that it has to change interpretations o f the
period.