This statement sets out Historic England's approach to surface-collected portable antiquities in the context of our own archaeological projects. Historic England also recommends the statement as a suitable model to follow for organisations that fund or authorise archaeological projects, and for land managers and individuals involved in giving consent for archaeological projects whatever the legal status of the site or sites involved. It is also a statement of good practice for portable antiquities/surface-collected material in the context of field archaeology and survey programmes (including the use of metal detectors). Material in the ploughsoil and upper seabed sediments also has the potential to provide valuable evidence of past human activity that may not survive in situ below cultivation levels or in the deeper seabed. This evidence could reveal information about processes and activities such as past land use, flint-working, middening and manuring, as well as structures or parts of structures (including occupation and floor levels) whose surviving remains have already been assimilated into the ploughsoil (or later seabed sediments as a result of inundation). In the case of some sites, such as flint scatters, material in the ploughsoil may be the only evidence of occupation that did not leave structural remains. These are often termed 'sites without structures' (Historic England forthcoming). Material from the ploughsoil can also provide evidence for the loss and use of artefacts which, when systematically recorded, can potentially provide evidence of patterns of casual loss and deliberate deposition, thereby contributing to the study of past material culture.