Les precedentes publications du bouclier en bronze de type Yetholm mis au jour en 1997 a Milsom&#... more Les precedentes publications du bouclier en bronze de type Yetholm mis au jour en 1997 a Milsom's Corner dans le South Cadbury (Somerset) n'ont pas pris en compte l'importance de la composition du metal et du contexte stratigraphique pour la question de l'origine et de la distribution des boucliers en bronze. Des analyses inedites de composition metallographique de plusieurs boucliers britanniques sont presentees en rapport avec la problematique liee a l'utilite de ces boucliers. Les compositions metalliques confirment que les boucliers en bronze sont avant tout l'apanage de la phase British Penard (ca. 1300-1125 av. J-C.), des datations par le radiocarbone ― certaines inedites ― en provenance de pieces en bronze (en l'occurence de leurs elements organiques) montrent que ces boucliers en bronze sont les plus anciens d'Europe. Paradoxalement, le bouclier de South Cadbury bien que de manufacture Penard a ete probablement »tue« et depose plus tardivement, a une epoque a laquelle ce genre d'armures de parade etait en desuetude. Ceci pourrait expliquer le contexte singulier dans lequel il a ete mis au jour dans un terrain sec.
Middle Bronze enclosure and metalworking structure was excavated 2km froum South Cadbury Castle i... more Middle Bronze enclosure and metalworking structure was excavated 2km froum South Cadbury Castle in south west Britain. The structure was the first of the kind of the period discovered in Britain.
Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and... more Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and the narratives, or archaeological story-telling', drawn from them. In essence he seeks to test how remote some interpretations are from the raw data through case studies based on surveys in Europe, Africa and North and South America. Classifying surveys according to the distribution of resources, and their spatial and chronological resolution, he examines the intentions of surveys and whether they achieve their goal of describing patterns of human behaviour.
During five seasons of excavations directed by Leslie Alcock from 1966 to 1970 on the multiperiod... more During five seasons of excavations directed by Leslie Alcock from 1966 to 1970 on the multiperiod hillfort at South Cadbury Castle proven and possible Early Neolithic postholes and pits were identified in several trenches on the plateau, under the southern inner bank, and bisected by the Iron Age South West gate passage. A discrete assemblage of Late Neolithic material was discovered under the north bank. The evidence has been treated only cursorily in a popular account of the excavations and in the final reports which focused on the periods following
A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discove... more A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discovered by excavation on an archaeological site. The shield lay in a silt-filled Bronze Age ditch on a spur of land below Cadbury Castle. A stake was thrust through the shield. The paper considers the recovery and conservation of the shield, the technology of metal shields and the evidence for the ritual deposition of shields in the Later Bronze Age of western Europe.
Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and... more Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and the narratives, or archaeological story-telling', drawn from them. In essence he seeks to test how remote some interpretations are from the raw data through case studies based on surveys in Europe, Africa and North and South America. Classifying surveys according to the distribution of resources, and their spatial and chronological resolution, he examines the intentions of surveys and whether they achieve their goal of describing patterns of human behaviour.
Work by the South Cadbury Environs Project shows that analysing the alignment and morphology of l... more Work by the South Cadbury Environs Project shows that analysing the alignment and morphology of large-scale geophysical data plots can greatly enhance diachronic and synchronic interpretation of a landscape. A pilot study demonstrates that discontinuity of boundary systems features as strongly as continuity in succeeding landscapes.
A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discove... more A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discovered by excavation on an archaeological site. The shield lay in a silt-filled Bronze Age ditch on a spur of land below Cadbury Castle. A stake was thrust through the shield. The paper considers the recovery and conservation of the shield, the technology of metal shields and the evidence for the ritual deposition of shields in the Later Bronze Age of western Europe.
Somerset Archaeology and Natural History the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society For, 2008
Geophysical survey, test pit sampling and excavation results and interpretation on land at a farm... more Geophysical survey, test pit sampling and excavation results and interpretation on land at a farm in Somerset, south west Britain
This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dat... more This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dates from the landscape surrounding Cadbury Castle, Somerset, covers periods from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Ceramic petrological and chemical analysis of a selection of the pottery has qualified the macroscopic fabric descriptions and given evidence for the sourcing of raw materials whilst shedding light on changing cultural influences in the region which will be explored in part 3.
Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, 2020
This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dat... more This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dates from the landscape surrounding Cadbury Castle, Somerset, covers periods from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Ceramic petrological and chemical analysis of a selection of the pottery has qualified the macroscopic fabric descriptions and given evidence for the sourcing of raw materials whilst shedding light on changing cultural influences in the region which will be explored in part 3.
Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 144, 2002
A pilot study for the South Cad bury Environs Project demonstrated that extensive geophysical sur... more A pilot study for the South Cad bury Environs Project demonstrated that extensive geophysical survey can identify successive systems ofland division from which different social, economic and subsistence activities can be inferred. Six hypothetical episodes oflandscape restructuring are presented, ranging from the Early Bronze Age to medieval periods, together with early results of evaluation by excavation.
Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 151, 2008
Woolston Manor Farm is centred on a basin-shaped
combe 1km to the east of North Cadbury, Somerset... more Woolston Manor Farm is centred on a basin-shaped combe 1km to the east of North Cadbury, Somerset. The modern farm buildings and former farmhouse nestle on a rise some 200m to 300m north of a tributary flowing westwards into the Cam. The farmland comprises slopes of every aspect formed from sandy beds, parenting light soils well suited to cultivation. A sampling transect had been designed to pass through the farm as early as 1996, as part of the South Cadbury Environs Project’s plan to obtain field data from a representative range of geology and topography within an 8 by 8km square centred on Cadbury Castle (Fig. 1). However, in the Spring of 2006, after evaluating the initial results, in conjunction with the documentary evidence, it was decided that the transect would be transformed into a larger sampling block, commensurate with five other localities within the study area.
Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society 136, 2015
A small pit including Middle and Late Neolithic type pottery was excavated during archaeological ... more A small pit including Middle and Late Neolithic type pottery was excavated during archaeological monitoring and recording along a pipeline route passing through the rich Bronze Age mortuary landscape at Winterbourne Abbas. The associated flint and stone tools place the pit within an acknowledged pattern of presumed deliberate deposition during the period.
The archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age shield is an almost unprecedented event. So, too, i... more The archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age shield is an almost unprecedented event. So, too, is to find one within a stratified sequence along with bones and pottery. Such an occurrence happened during excavations at »Milsom’s Corner« in South Cadbury (Somerset) in 1997. At first sight, this discovery offers a unique opportunity to date and contextualise the deposition of a shield. However, its placing in a silted ditch on the ridge of a spur is wholly atypical of shield find circumstances in the British Isles, for these are otherwise from wetland locations. The circumstances of the deposition of the South Cadbury shield therefore assume particular interest and it transpires that they may be unusual in more than one respect.
Les precedentes publications du bouclier en bronze de type Yetholm mis au jour en 1997 a Milsom&#... more Les precedentes publications du bouclier en bronze de type Yetholm mis au jour en 1997 a Milsom's Corner dans le South Cadbury (Somerset) n'ont pas pris en compte l'importance de la composition du metal et du contexte stratigraphique pour la question de l'origine et de la distribution des boucliers en bronze. Des analyses inedites de composition metallographique de plusieurs boucliers britanniques sont presentees en rapport avec la problematique liee a l'utilite de ces boucliers. Les compositions metalliques confirment que les boucliers en bronze sont avant tout l'apanage de la phase British Penard (ca. 1300-1125 av. J-C.), des datations par le radiocarbone ― certaines inedites ― en provenance de pieces en bronze (en l'occurence de leurs elements organiques) montrent que ces boucliers en bronze sont les plus anciens d'Europe. Paradoxalement, le bouclier de South Cadbury bien que de manufacture Penard a ete probablement »tue« et depose plus tardivement, a une epoque a laquelle ce genre d'armures de parade etait en desuetude. Ceci pourrait expliquer le contexte singulier dans lequel il a ete mis au jour dans un terrain sec.
Middle Bronze enclosure and metalworking structure was excavated 2km froum South Cadbury Castle i... more Middle Bronze enclosure and metalworking structure was excavated 2km froum South Cadbury Castle in south west Britain. The structure was the first of the kind of the period discovered in Britain.
Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and... more Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and the narratives, or archaeological story-telling', drawn from them. In essence he seeks to test how remote some interpretations are from the raw data through case studies based on surveys in Europe, Africa and North and South America. Classifying surveys according to the distribution of resources, and their spatial and chronological resolution, he examines the intentions of surveys and whether they achieve their goal of describing patterns of human behaviour.
During five seasons of excavations directed by Leslie Alcock from 1966 to 1970 on the multiperiod... more During five seasons of excavations directed by Leslie Alcock from 1966 to 1970 on the multiperiod hillfort at South Cadbury Castle proven and possible Early Neolithic postholes and pits were identified in several trenches on the plateau, under the southern inner bank, and bisected by the Iron Age South West gate passage. A discrete assemblage of Late Neolithic material was discovered under the north bank. The evidence has been treated only cursorily in a popular account of the excavations and in the final reports which focused on the periods following
A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discove... more A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discovered by excavation on an archaeological site. The shield lay in a silt-filled Bronze Age ditch on a spur of land below Cadbury Castle. A stake was thrust through the shield. The paper considers the recovery and conservation of the shield, the technology of metal shields and the evidence for the ritual deposition of shields in the Later Bronze Age of western Europe.
Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and... more Richard Tabor's updated thesis analyses the relationship between regional survey sampling and the narratives, or archaeological story-telling', drawn from them. In essence he seeks to test how remote some interpretations are from the raw data through case studies based on surveys in Europe, Africa and North and South America. Classifying surveys according to the distribution of resources, and their spatial and chronological resolution, he examines the intentions of surveys and whether they achieve their goal of describing patterns of human behaviour.
Work by the South Cadbury Environs Project shows that analysing the alignment and morphology of l... more Work by the South Cadbury Environs Project shows that analysing the alignment and morphology of large-scale geophysical data plots can greatly enhance diachronic and synchronic interpretation of a landscape. A pilot study demonstrates that discontinuity of boundary systems features as strongly as continuity in succeeding landscapes.
A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discove... more A shield of beaten bronze from South Cadbury, Somerset, England is the first shield to be discovered by excavation on an archaeological site. The shield lay in a silt-filled Bronze Age ditch on a spur of land below Cadbury Castle. A stake was thrust through the shield. The paper considers the recovery and conservation of the shield, the technology of metal shields and the evidence for the ritual deposition of shields in the Later Bronze Age of western Europe.
Somerset Archaeology and Natural History the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society For, 2008
Geophysical survey, test pit sampling and excavation results and interpretation on land at a farm... more Geophysical survey, test pit sampling and excavation results and interpretation on land at a farm in Somerset, south west Britain
This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dat... more This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dates from the landscape surrounding Cadbury Castle, Somerset, covers periods from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Ceramic petrological and chemical analysis of a selection of the pottery has qualified the macroscopic fabric descriptions and given evidence for the sourcing of raw materials whilst shedding light on changing cultural influences in the region which will be explored in part 3.
Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, 2020
This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dat... more This first of three papers presenting selected prehistoric pottery and associated radiocarbon dates from the landscape surrounding Cadbury Castle, Somerset, covers periods from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Ceramic petrological and chemical analysis of a selection of the pottery has qualified the macroscopic fabric descriptions and given evidence for the sourcing of raw materials whilst shedding light on changing cultural influences in the region which will be explored in part 3.
Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 144, 2002
A pilot study for the South Cad bury Environs Project demonstrated that extensive geophysical sur... more A pilot study for the South Cad bury Environs Project demonstrated that extensive geophysical survey can identify successive systems ofland division from which different social, economic and subsistence activities can be inferred. Six hypothetical episodes oflandscape restructuring are presented, ranging from the Early Bronze Age to medieval periods, together with early results of evaluation by excavation.
Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 151, 2008
Woolston Manor Farm is centred on a basin-shaped
combe 1km to the east of North Cadbury, Somerset... more Woolston Manor Farm is centred on a basin-shaped combe 1km to the east of North Cadbury, Somerset. The modern farm buildings and former farmhouse nestle on a rise some 200m to 300m north of a tributary flowing westwards into the Cam. The farmland comprises slopes of every aspect formed from sandy beds, parenting light soils well suited to cultivation. A sampling transect had been designed to pass through the farm as early as 1996, as part of the South Cadbury Environs Project’s plan to obtain field data from a representative range of geology and topography within an 8 by 8km square centred on Cadbury Castle (Fig. 1). However, in the Spring of 2006, after evaluating the initial results, in conjunction with the documentary evidence, it was decided that the transect would be transformed into a larger sampling block, commensurate with five other localities within the study area.
Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society 136, 2015
A small pit including Middle and Late Neolithic type pottery was excavated during archaeological ... more A small pit including Middle and Late Neolithic type pottery was excavated during archaeological monitoring and recording along a pipeline route passing through the rich Bronze Age mortuary landscape at Winterbourne Abbas. The associated flint and stone tools place the pit within an acknowledged pattern of presumed deliberate deposition during the period.
The archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age shield is an almost unprecedented event. So, too, i... more The archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age shield is an almost unprecedented event. So, too, is to find one within a stratified sequence along with bones and pottery. Such an occurrence happened during excavations at »Milsom’s Corner« in South Cadbury (Somerset) in 1997. At first sight, this discovery offers a unique opportunity to date and contextualise the deposition of a shield. However, its placing in a silted ditch on the ridge of a spur is wholly atypical of shield find circumstances in the British Isles, for these are otherwise from wetland locations. The circumstances of the deposition of the South Cadbury shield therefore assume particular interest and it transpires that they may be unusual in more than one respect.
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Papers by Richard Tabor
combe 1km to the east of North Cadbury, Somerset.
The modern farm buildings and former farmhouse
nestle on a rise some 200m to 300m north of a
tributary flowing westwards into the Cam. The
farmland comprises slopes of every aspect formed
from sandy beds, parenting light soils well suited to
cultivation. A sampling transect had been designed
to pass through the farm as early as 1996, as part of
the South Cadbury Environs Project’s plan to obtain
field data from a representative range of geology and
topography within an 8 by 8km square centred on
Cadbury Castle (Fig. 1). However, in the Spring of
2006, after evaluating the initial results, in
conjunction with the documentary evidence, it was
decided that the transect would be transformed into
a larger sampling block, commensurate with five
other localities within the study area.
combe 1km to the east of North Cadbury, Somerset.
The modern farm buildings and former farmhouse
nestle on a rise some 200m to 300m north of a
tributary flowing westwards into the Cam. The
farmland comprises slopes of every aspect formed
from sandy beds, parenting light soils well suited to
cultivation. A sampling transect had been designed
to pass through the farm as early as 1996, as part of
the South Cadbury Environs Project’s plan to obtain
field data from a representative range of geology and
topography within an 8 by 8km square centred on
Cadbury Castle (Fig. 1). However, in the Spring of
2006, after evaluating the initial results, in
conjunction with the documentary evidence, it was
decided that the transect would be transformed into
a larger sampling block, commensurate with five
other localities within the study area.