pp x343 including 8 pages of half-tones and 39 pages of maps and line illustrations
1987 hardback
ISBN 0-7083-0963-1
In 1963 the University of Wales Press published an account of the author's excavation of an early Welsh prince's stronghold at Dinas Powys in the county of Glamorgan, Wales. This is the richest fortification of the 5th-8th centuries AD so far excavated and published anywhere in Celtic Britain. The varied range ofe in Celtic Britain. The varied range of finds made it possible to examine economic, social and material aspects of early Wales in the light of both archaeological and literary evidence. The original monograph is out of print, and the first two parts of the present book therefore comprise a reissue of the core of the classic excavation report, thoroughly revised in the light of advances in knowledge.
The author has gone on to explore other fortifications comparable in status and date to Dinas Powys in both Wales and south west England: most notably Cadbury-Camelot, with its `Arthurian' associations. Since 1973, as Professor of Archaeology in the University of Glasgow, he had further extended his researches to the northern Britons. The third and fourth parts of this book look at these wider areas of the Celtic West, and also at the military relations of the Britons and the invading Saxons, in a series of interpretative essays. Finally he brings together the various explorations and interpretations in a chapter of synthesis which originally appeared in his Arthur's Britain.
The whole book is lavishly illustrated with maps, drawings and photographs, and the text is supported by an exceptionally extensive bibliography.
` . . . one of the most important contributions to the study of this period to have appeared so far.' (British Archaeological News)
`The great value of this book for historians working on medieval Europe is its demonstration of the rich possibilities of integrating information from texts with that recovered through archaeological research.' (American Historical Review)
`The book is a gift for undergraduates studying the period, since it not only collects in one place much of the essential reading, but also demonstrates the evolution of one scholar's thought through time. . . a welcome, engaging, finely illustrated distillation of exceptionally important work. It deserves wide attention.' (Choice)