For both future work and analysis of legacy material, it is important to engage with the creation of archives for future use. Although publication in books, theses and journals will remain appropriate for many outputs, these will often need to be supplemented and integrated with various types of digital archives. This is an area of existing strength within Scotland. Trove (formally Canmore) provides an invaluable, broad synthesis of data on Roman and contemporary sites in south east Scotland, although it often only acts as an index to currently undigitized primary material. While other important information is often also available through the local HERs, NMS and Treasure Trove databases, information on artefacts is much less easily accessed.
In all future work, easily accessible digital databases need to become a standard research outcome, with integration with existing spatial datasets enabled by their design. Making these databases available, also promotes publicly the visible legacy of such data. Wherever possible these databases should be made open access to reduce barriers to research and encourage research sustainability. FAIR principles – Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability – should be followed.