Tintagel, on the North coast of Cornwall, is famed in legend as the home of King Mark (of Tristan and Isolde fame) and the possible place where King Arthur was conceived.
Archaeologically it became important in the 1930s, when Raleigh Radford excavated there and found some very unusual pottery, which he recognised as coming from the East Mediterranean in the 5th and 6th centuries AD - the very period when King Arthur may have existed. He suggested that it was a monastery, though this suggestion has recently been challenged, and it is now thought to be a trading centre under Royal patronage.
Recently Professor Christopher Morris, of Glasgow University, has been excavating there, and in 1998 he found an inscription which may throw new light on this.
Read the rest here.
# Posted by Michelle Moran @ |
Wednesday, February 27, 2008