1. Professional Practices and Public Outreach
Archaeology in Contemporary Europe (ACE)
5th Meeting
Professional Practices and Public Outreach
7-8 may 2010, Budapest

2. Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) and the case of France

3. Inrap is the main preventive operator in France.
- It is a public institute under supervision of the ministries of culture and research. It was created by a law passed in 2001.
- Since 2003 (modification of the 2001 law), other operators can lead archaeological preventive operations :
There are approximately 80 operators,
public (archaeological services of local communities) : about 60
or private (associations, commercial companies…) : a twenty
They realize about XX% of evaluations and XX % of excavations (à completer).

4. Unlike Inrap, these operators must obtain a licence from the State
- The licence is given on the National Archaeological Research Council (CNRA) proposal.
The main licence criteria are qualifications, status, specialties, and experience of the staff structure.
- This licence is limited :
in time (issued for 5 years)
and on one or several archaeological periods.
It can also be limited to a territory (for archaeological services of local communities, for example).
Private operators realize only preventive excavations while public operators may also lead evaluations.

5. Archaeologists in France in the public domain
- More than half of professional archaeologists belongs to Inrap (1500)
- The others archaeologists:
work in the Ministry of culture, in regional archaeological services, where they examine the development projects and prescribe if necessary preventive operations (evaluations and excavations) ; They also control the work of the operators.
are researchers at CNRS ;
or teacher-researchers in universities ;
Finally, a number of local communities (cities, counties…) have created their own archaeological service.
And archaeologists in private companies : about 100 permanent archaeologists (à vérifier)

6. First, Inrap has a mission of operator in preventive archaeology
It employs about 1500 permanent archaeologists
It realizes approximately 2300 operations per year: 1500 to 2000 evaluations, 200 to 300 excavations
It works throughout metropolitan France as well as in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana
It produces 1500 evaluations reports and about 300 excavations reports per year.
Some excavation reports can be viewed online on (actually, about 300)

7. Evaluated surfaces by Inrap in 2009
hectares have been evaluated (except Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana : 3000 hectares), mainly in rural areas (75 %).
But the surface by region is highly variable
It depends in part on the various policies of territorial development
It depends above all on the various policies of regional archaeological services of the State, prescribing operations in the regions

8. Excavations in 2009 Inrap made 225 archaeological excavations
About 25 % of these excavations were in urban zones and 75 % in rural areas
Here again, the number is highly variable from one region to another
For this activity, the number depends in part on the presence of private and public operators.

9. Human resources of Inrap
1500 permanent archaeologists including:
approximately 700 field directors, at different levels (complex operations, medium operations, evaluations…)
120 specialists
580 technicians
70 topographers
50 illustrators
15 documentalists
As well as 400 archaeologists under contract term to cope with the surge of activity, including for the excavations
Educational levels :
A hundred PhDs
About 350 graduates with third degree or with Masters or equivalents degrees
Approximately 600 people with the Bachelor
And numerous persons who have gain knowledge et know-how by the accumulation of experience and training programs

10. Scientific profiles

11. Inrap has also a mission of research and publication
Inrap researchers produce about 00 publications per year in scientific journals
There is a good to very good level of research and publication to the Palaeolithic, the Neolithic, the Bronze and Iron Ages and the Modern Times
Efforts must continue to Antiquity and Middle Ages. Excavations on these periods are more numerous and complex, the mass of data is considerable and complicates its scientific exploitation

12. Public outreach events
In 2008, Inrap participated in 446 actions which concerned approximately 200,000 people:
- 36 exhibitions
- 72 conferences
- 55 actions within the framework of European heritage or the feast of the science. These activities days have concerned 190 local communities.

13. Inrap : distribution of activities