This involved buying a printing machine and undertaking the full production of their own books, before selling to readers via mail.
[1][2] Hands and Walker wanted to include in the BAR series archaeology from areas of the world which had previously been unable to get their research out to an international audience.
[3] In part, this was to keep the company commercially viable, preventing it from becoming unprofitable due to a low demand for academic archaeological works in Britain, by providing and therefore selling to a wider market.
[5] BAR now publishes books that are fully open-access and available on an open licence, such as Domestic Multicrafting for Exchange at Prehistoric Ejutla, Oaxaca, Mexico, by Gary M. Feinman and Linda M.
[6] In the twentieth anniversary publication,[7] it was noted that the BAR series has significantly contributed to archaeology through rapidly publishing conference proceedings at a low cost, as well as making doctoral theses available to a wider audience.