Free Practical Guides

English Heritage produces a range of free practical guides for amateur and professional archaeologists.

You can download these as pdfs by visiting our Free Publications Section.

Here are a selection of some of our guides that you could search for: 

Where on earth are we? the role of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in archaeological field survey (2003). Whether you are amateur or professional, this free publication will prove an indispensable guide.

Human Bones from Archaeological Sites: guidelines for producing assessment documents and analytical reports (2003). The definitive guidelines on good practice.

Environmental Archaeology: A guide to the theory and practice of methods, from sampling and recovery to post-excavation (2002). The definitive guidelines on best practice.

With Alidade and Tape: graphical and plane table survey of archaeological earthworks (2002). Guidelines for amateurs and professionals on the theory and methods of field survey. 

Archaeometallurgy (2001). The definitive guidelines on best practice.

The Presentation of Historic Buildings Survey in CAD (Computer Aided Draughting) (1999). A useful booklet for anyone using CAD in the recording of the historic environment.