Last orders?

The writers respond to Geoffrey Wainwright's “Time Please,” published in December, 2000, in which Wainwright reviewed the enormous changes in archaeology over the last 30 to 40 years from his perspective as Chief Archaeologist of English Heritage. They reflect on archaeology's collision with market forces, and they argue that Wainwright does not acknowledge the limitations of PPG-16, which integrated a mechanism for archaeological conservation into development control and planning policy. They contend that the new roles for archaeologists celebrated by Wainwright are inadequate, and they highlight the continuing decline of the public service ethos as the biggest problem facing those who want to mitigate the impact of commodification.