Editorial

Tim Murray FSA FAHA

Welcome to the 22nd year of BHA, and the first issue of Volume 22. Last year I advised readers that the BHA was to go fully on-line – that is from author submissions, the referee and editorial processes, right through to publication. The advantage of the fully on-line environment was also outlined at that point – the most significant advantage being the capacity to continuously publish, rather than to wait for either of the two hard-copy issues per year. I am very pleased to report that we have had an increasing number of submissions which are now going through our new publication processes. All of these are fully described in our website (www.archaeologybulletin.org) and I encourage all potential authors to visit the website and see for themselves. Of course I will continue to accept submissions direct, and several our forthcoming papers have followed this more familiar pathway. The on-line environment also allows readers to register as potential reviewers, and I encourage you to do this as well, not just because it reduces the load of those hardy individuals who are on our list, but because it provides excellent experience for potential authors as well.

This hard-copy issue collects 3 papers, 2 book reviews and 1 conference report that either have appeared or will shortly appear in our on-line version. All of these contributions demonstrate several key elements. First, they are a concrete expression of the great diversity of approaches and purposes that make up the recent history of the history of archaeology as a field of research. Second, in part related to the first, they come from a wide diversity of contexts and traditions, in this case from traditional history of science, China, Australia, Sweden, the UK and Italy. Third, they are also expressions of a diversity of contexts within which the history of archaeology is practiced – be it in communities such as the Histories of Archaeology Research Network (HARN, see http://harngroup.wordpress.com/) or in other more or less formal groupings. Indeed a visit to the HARN website provides very clear evidence of the high levels of research activity in this field as it has moved swiftly from the margins to become mainstream in the development of archaeological method and theory, and in gaining an improved understanding of the roles archaeology plays in society.

The expansion of interest in our field and the rapid expansion in the size and diversity of the communities who are involved makes it very important that we keep lines of communication as open as possible. For this reason the BHA has long sought information from readers and subscribers about research projects, doctoral dissertations, and symposia/conference sessions relevant to our field. Information about these fundamental activities is just as welcome as papers and book reviews and I encourage all readers and subscribers to use the BHA as a vehicle for disseminating this.

It remains for me to thank our contributors to the first issue of Volume 22, our steadfast anonymous reviewers without whom we would not be able to function. The same applies to our production team of Wei Ming, Susan Bridekirk and Jenna Thurlow of La Trobe University. The assistance of La Trobe in supporting our enterprise is, as usual, very gratefully acknowledged.