Archaeology and development

Guidance

The Archaeology Service is responsible for providing guidance on archaeological work undertaken in both East Lothian and Midlothian. We have extensive experience in applying both local and national guidance, standards and legislation to individual archaeology projects and we regularly review our guidance and standards with respect to external professional guidance from bodies such as the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, Historic Environment Scotland and the Association of Local Government Archaeology Officers (ALGAO).

Standards

As part of the planning process, we are responsible for the monitoring of archaeological work from the initial project design or specification (often called a Written Scheme of Investigation or WSI) through the fieldwork stages to the final reporting and post-excavation phases.

We liaise with the developer, archaeology company and the planning officer to ensure that the archaeological work is done to professional standards, that the planning condition and any relevant legislation is adhered to, and that the whole process runs as smoothly as possible.