Archaeology for all? Inclusive policies for field schools

Abstract

A number of pieces of anti-discrimination legislation have been passed in Britain over the last 15 years. These relate not just to disability, but also to race, religion, gender, age and sexual orientation. The efforts to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities are now part of a wider agenda addressing this issue experienced by a wide range of minority groups. While some discriminatory issues in archaeology have been discussed in other countries, little has been published elsewhere relating to disability and archaeology. The pieces of legislation that related specifically to disability were the Disability Discrimination Acts (DDA 1995, 2005) and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA 2001). These have now been superseded by the Equality Act (DDA 2010) which came into force on 1 October 2010 and combines all the anti-discrimination legislation within a single Act of Parliament.