This volume presents reports from a series of disparate excavation and fieldwork projects undertaken in and around Ilchester, Somerset, between 1964 and 1984. The main body of the report consists of a series of chapters documenting each recorded episode of fieldwork within a framework provided by four principal themes: Urban Defences; Town and Suburb; Cemeteries; the Hinterland. These are supplemented by a review of cultural and environmental evidence, placing Ilchester's archaeology in a diachronic and thematic structure from prehistory to the middle ages.
First published in 1985, this collection of essays has proved popular for those teaching archaeological field methods. It deals with methodological problems in a general way, but also illustrated by some case studies from both Britain and the continent, from regional strategies to the intensive study of a specific site.