Bulletin
4, 1998
Publication Programme
The principles for publication adopted by the Tarbat Research Programme include the idea of making the discoveries accessible to the interested parties as soon as possible, through desk-top publication (these Bulletins). This pious wish is often frustrated, since the popular account which is demanded most quickly, cannot legitimately be written before the detailed scientific work which supports it is completed; and this takes the longest to do. The overall design for publication is as follows:
The Field Records comprise the written, drawn and photographic documentation made on site and stored at the University of York where the records are entered into a graphical and textual digital archive. Together with the finds (artifacts and biota) these constitute the original record. The finds are declared to the Treasure Trove panel at regular intervals. They remain in the care of the University of York where they are recorded and studied, and then passed to the National Museums which conserves them and is generally expected to become their designated owner. Selected artifacts should subsequently be lent by NMS to Tarbat Historic Trust for display. Selected field records, currently held in the digital archive, are being prepared for public access from a CD-ROM as part of the Visitor experience in the Tarbat Discovery Centre.
The Field Reports, prepared by supervisors and specialists, represent the comprehensive account of each completed study, whether of an intervention, stratigraphic analysis, a type of material or a survey. These are held within the digital archive at the University of York.
The Research Reports are being prepared for publication by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in four major articles or monographs as follows:
- The Excavation of St Colman's Church and cemetery (Martin Carver and Annette Roe; scheduled for April 2001)
- Studies of Medieval Tarbat (Martin Carver and Justin Garner-Lahire; scheduled for 2002)
- The Tarbat School of Sculpture (Martin Carver, with Ian Scott, Nigel Ruckley and others; scheduled for 2003).
- The Early Medieval Settlement at Tarbat and its context (Martin Carver, Justin Garner-Lahire and Annette Roe; scheduled for 2006).
It is intended that these accounts will be updated and re-issued as a single monograph at the end of the project if the results so justify.
The Bulletin of the Tarbat Discovery Programme is an annual interim report produced rapidly (ie within a year), containing the updated project design and factual reports of discoveries accompanied by interpretation, in advance of analysis, of a speculative kind that is expected to be often revised.
Discovery at Tarbat is a pamphlet intended to introduce members of the public to the archaeological research programme including the story of the church and the discoveries made so far in the adjacent fields. It is intended to update it from time to time. It is available from Tarbat Historic Trust.
The Tarbat Discovery Centre is a Museum and Visitor Centre which is intended, at least in part, to provide popular publication of the results of the research programme through display. The initial version, opening to the public in 1999, could only draw on work to that date, so visitors may expect the display to be periodically refreshed and revised following the completion of fieldwork in 2002 and the completion of analysis in 2010.
Where appropriate, project staff also contribute articles to journals and conference proceedings.
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Last updated 10 October, 2003.
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