you might check my summary here:
http://www.mambers.com/showthread.php?p=4182#post4182
actually there's no system that deletes pictures after a certain time, and i'm not quite sure what you mean with "archival".
yet i'm not sure myself which is the best system at the moment. i'd love a mix between rsgallery beta5 and z00mgallery rc3.
both have nags i'm not too happy about..
the mamboscene dearly waits for a decent coppermine/4images integration..
bye,
remedy