| Summary : A length of ditch just outside the earthworks of Cadbury Castle (ST 62 NW 1) excavated in 1996-7. The ditch either represents a single right-angled stretch or the southeastern corner of a subrectabgular enclosure. It cuts through two Early Bronze Age inhumations, which appear originally to have lain beneath a round barrow. Beaker sherds from the ditch fill may have derived from these burial deposits. The middle ditchfills contained Middle Bronze Age sherds plus a series of single and deliberate deposits of animal bone, mainly cattle mandibles. The upper fill sincluded some Late Bronze Age sherds. Within the upper ditch fills was a Late Bronze Age bronze shield, face down, its boss resting in an earlier stake hole. A sharp object, possibly a wooden stake, was driven through the shield in three places. The excavations were undertaken as part of the ongoing South Cadbury Environs Project. |
| More information : A length of ditch just outside the earthworks of Cadbury Castle (ST 62 NW 1) excavated in 1996-7. The ditch either represents a single right-angled stretch or the southeastern corner of a subrectabgular enclosure. It cuts through two Early Bronze Age inhumations, which appear originally to have lain beneath a round barrow. Beaker sherds from the ditch fill may have derived from these burial deposits. The middle ditchfills contained Middle Bronze Age sherds plus a series of single and deliberate deposits of animal bone, mainly cattle mandibles. The upper fill sincluded some Late Bronze Age sherds. Within the upper ditch fills was a Late Bronze Age bronze shield, face down, its boss resting in an earlier stake hole. A sharp object, possibly a wooden stake, was driven through the shield in three places. The excavations were undertaken as part of the ongoing South Cadbury Environs Project. The project, which aims to place the hillfort of South Cadbury within a broader landscape context, is still ongoing, with only interim statements produced so far. The shield has, however, received more detailed attention. (1) |