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Sat 06 Jun 2009Changing landscape of archaeology
WILL THE recession leave Irish archaeology in the past? Over a decade and a half we have witnessed an unprecedented rise in archaeological activity in Ireland as a result of the boom in construction. Several private archaeology firms have sprung up and commercial archaeology has become a lucrative business, writes BRIAN O'CONNELL
Between 1993 and 2003, there was a 10-fold increase in the number of licences for archaeological excavations issued, the majority of them granted to private consultancy firms. It is estimated that by 2007, about 1,700 archaeologists were working in Ireland, whereas a decade earlier that number was 500.
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