This volume, which has been in the pipeline for at least 20years, is at last published, and I have my copy. It's not cheap, at £35 per copy, but it is beautifully presented on glossy paper, with abundant illustrations (many of them in colour) and 552 pages.
Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of the series were published some time ago, and the only volume to come is the Atlas, for which I have been asked to contribute four maps. This volume deals with Prehistoric, Roman and Early Medieval Pembrokeshire. It's been written by Tim Darvill, Heather James, Ken Murphy, Geoff Wainwright and Elizabeth Walker, and four of those are also the editors. I always get rather worried about books published in this rather incestuous fashion, with contributors in effect doing their own editing. There are lots of acknowledgements on the back of each chapter, of course, but this does not disguise the fact that books like this can go into print without any effective peer-review and with all sorts of biases built into them.
Anyway, I won't presume to do reviews of the chapters concerning the Iron Age, Roman period or early Medieval Pembs -- but I will do a review of the chapter called "Neolithic and Bronze Age Pembrokeshire" by Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright. As ever, of course, I will subject it to careful scrutiny and will be scrupulously fair at all times. Now I must get down to some serious reading..........
Will that be The Court of the Star Chamber fair, the Spanish Inquisition fair or even Stalinist Show Trial fair?
ReplyDeleteSteve Marshall's very slim 'Standing Stones' book has just dropped/fluttered into my hands. It is not, nor is it meant to be, the outstanding Avebury book, more a modern Ladybird roam about British Isles sites.
M
Nah -- just an honest ex-academic who is still capable of rational thought, and who knows the difference between a fact and a fantasy .....
ReplyDeleteJust been to a talk about Budbury in Bradford - on - Avon, given by retired but still - active retired County Archaeologist, Roy Canham. A lot of his talk was about the Budbury hillfort, excavated in 1969 by the aforesaid Geoff Wainwright. He must have dug there just after his well - known excavations at Durrington henge. Wainwright was also very active with digs at Dorchester and Marden henges around that time.
ReplyDeleteThe Budbury hillfort is above most of the town of Bradford, on top of the river - cliff and above the Saxon Church. Since his excavations, many houses have been built in amongst the hillfort's rampart relicts, such as they are. It is a fascinating aspect of this old town's pre - history. On the plateau beyond the hillfort a twin Roman villa was unearthed in the 1990's. There may also be a Bronze Age element to features within the hillfort. I recommend you go to the Museum Society website for Bradford for more information - easily found.
I need to try and get a copy for myself.
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