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CADBURY CASTLE
by
TABOR, RICHARD
Traces the conditions for the development of the Iron Age hillfort at Cadbury Castle, the violent suppression of its population in the first century AD and its major refortification in the post-Roman period. This work is intended for those interested in Cadbury Castle and in hillforts generally.
Stock: Currently Out of Stock, Allow 7-10 Days for Delivery
Format: Paperback
Published: 14/07/2008
Publisher: THE HISTORY PRESS LTD
ISBN: 0752447157
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Reviewed By: |
M. Corner |
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Date: |
11/11/2008 |
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Reader Rating: |
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Review:
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This book is the first presentation for general readership, archaeology students and researchers of a programme of landscape survey from 1992 to 2007 around Cadbury Castle, an Iron Age and "Arthurian" hillfort in Somerset. Combining the survey's results with reassessments of the archive and three previously published books about famous excavations on the hillfort (Leslie Alcock: by south cadbury that is camelot, 1995; Cadbury Castle, Somerset: The Early Medieval Archaeology (University of Wales - Pocket Guide), 1995; John Barrett, Philip Freeman and Ann Woodward: Cadbury Castle, Somerset: The Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeology (English Heritage Archaeological Report), 2000) Tabor has called into question many received opinions about hillforts and survey methodology.
The book successfully presents a broad sweep of the landscape's prehistory, whilst necessarily treating some issues in depth where the results have been add odds with previous work at Maiden Castle, Dorset and Barry Cunliffe's exceptional study of Danebury, Hampshire.
The author is fortunate to have made some exceptional discoveries. A Bronze Age shield was the first to be found during an archaeological excavation in north west Europe, whilst a roundhouse and its enclosure are the most complete surviving elements of a Bronze Age metalworking system identified in Britain. A stunning colour plate in the book shows casting mould fragments for a hilt refitted to sword found in the nineteenth century - and 25 miles away!
A recent book by David Yates has argued that the affluence of south east England was already apparent when compared to other parts of Britain as early as the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (David Yates: Land, Power and Prestige: Bronze Age Field Systems in Southern England), citing field systems associated with ringworks particularly prominent in the Lower Thames Valley. Tabor has demonstrated with stunning geophysics and initial excavation that the same architecture was being employed in north Dorset. Its nearest known neighbour lies over 100 miles north east, in Oxfordshire. He links the pottery from the ringwork to very similar material from Potterne, Wiltshire (Andrew Lawson: Potterne, 1982-5: Animal Husbandry in Late Prehistoric Wiltshire (Wessex Archaeology Reports)), the site of one of several massive middens in that area which suggest a thriving economy outside the south east.
The project strategy was found on digging test pits at regular intervals, supported by very large scale coverage with geophysics (made famous by Time Team). Annual excavations made exceptional contributions to amplify the picture. Tabor claims that his methodology has demonstrated that traditional survey methods such as fieldwalking are unreliable and should be regarded as obselete within a research framework. The distribution plots of prehistoric pottery go some way to supporting his case.
The book is a must for anyone interested in prehistoric metalworking, the Bronze Age and Iron Age transition and offers a challenge to amateur and professional survey archaeologist alike. And where the particular is concerned there are fascinating presentations of ritual deposition in Iron Age pits and their realitionships to shrines, and the bloody results of the Roman invasion. |
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