Welsh Journals

REVIEWS CADBURY CASTLE, SOMERSET: THE EARLY MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY. By Leslie Alcock. University ofWales Press, Cardiff, 1995. Pp. 188, illus. 78. £ 35.00. The excavations carried out at Cadbury Castle between 1966 and 1973 placed it firmly amongst the most important western British early medieval settlements such as Tintagel, Cornwall, and Dinas Powys, South Glamorgan. The history of South Cadbury reaches back to the Early Neolithic but despite the evidence presented for the site's domination of the Somerset landscape since its foundation, the decision was made to publish the early medieval evidence in this separate form 'because there was no strong legacy from the earlier to the later period' (p. 12); this is only partially true as the report seeks to reject certain features which are interpreted as prehistoric and include some that the writers of the report on the prehistory may wish to claim. This part of the report is concerned with Periods 11 and 12, the construction of ramparts in the late fifth/early sixth century and the early eleventh century with associated evidence for occupation. The report begins with the history of Cadbury Castle from the latest archaeological evidence (medieval agriculture) to 1965 and of the project up to the completion of this part of the report. The author then deals with the results of the excavation, the structural details of the defences and the interiors of Periods 11 and 12 and the artefacts relating to those phases, notable amongst them being the large quantities of imported pottery and Germanic metalwork and glass. The final section is devoted to discussion of the chronologies and the activities taking place on the hilltop and to placing the whole into a broader context. Much of this has already been presented but the author emphasizes that this report supersedes anything previously published (p. 13). The excavations were clearly very difficult but one is left feeling that the full ambiguities of the results should have been discussed rather than trying to force the reader into believing a preferred story; there clearly were doubts and nowhere is this better exemplified than