Interpreting the English Village

An original and approachable look at the history of an English village as uncovered through its archaeology, surviving architecture, literary records and the surrounding landscape. Seven of the ten chapters begin with a fictional vignette, to bring the story of the village to life. Text-boxes elucidate re-occurring themes and techniques. A fascinating and accessible picture emerges, both of the history of a community and how archaeology can tell the story of the English village. The Shapwick Project examined the development and history of an English parish and village over a ten thousand-year period. This was a truly multi-disciplinary project. Not only were a battery of archaeological and historical techniques explored such as field walking, test-pitting, archaeological excavation, aerial reconnaissance, documentary research and cartographic analysis but numerous other techniques such as building analysis, dendrochronological dating and soil analysis were undertaken on a large scale. The result is a fascinating study about how the community lived and prospered in Shapwick. In addition we learn how a group of enthusiastic and dedicated scholars unravelled this story. As such there is much here to inspire and enthuse others who might want to embark on a landscape study of a parish or village area. Extensively illustrated in colour including 100 full page images.