The Bradford, Jones, and Trump 'Tavoliere' Collected Papers
Scope and Contents
A varied collection of papers and photographs connected to the efforts of John Bradford, Barri Jones, and David Trump to identify, excavate, and publish on Neolithic, Roman and Medieval archaeological sites in an area mostly comprised of the Gargano, the Tavoliere, and the Murge. We have here letters, field notes, typed notes, faxes, pilotage maps, excavation maps, area maps, elevation maps, photo slides, photo negatives (both cut and uncut), photo prints requisition orders, journal excerpts, illustrations, papers (in published and unpublished forms) and miscellaneous notes, which cover just under five decades, mostly centred on the efforts by Barri Jones in the early 1960s. This may be summarily described as an ‘informative snapshot’ of extensive archaeological operations in the area, which is primarily an insight into the progression of various excavations of sites including the following: Alba Fucens, Ascoli Piceno, Campo dei Fiori, Casa Scoppa, Foggia, Il Casone, Lucera (including extensive work on Arpi and Nocelli), Passo di Corvo, Ponte Agosto, Posta d’Innanzi, Quercia, Spoleto, and Siponto.
Reference number
BJT
Dates
- 1943 - 1989
- Majority of material found within 1961 - 1965
Language of Materials
Very few materials in Italian.
Conditions Governing Access
Materials in this sub-fonds are restricted until 40 years after creation. Some materials may not be available for data protection concerns.
Conditions Governing Use
Items from this collection may not be reproduced without permission obtained by the BSR.
Biographical / Historical
John Spencer Purvis Bradford SA, RAI (28 August 1918 - 12 August 1975) was a wartime RAF officer and a pioneer in landscape archaeology and the use of aerial photography. Geraint Dyfed Barri Jones FSA (4 April 1936 – 16 July 1999) was a Welsh classical scholar and archaeologist. David Hilary Trump (August 27, 1931 – August 31, 2016) was a British archaeologist known for his work in the area of Maltese prehistory.
Beginning in 1943, John Bradford had taken an archaeological interest in his work for the RAF in San Severo during WWII, which revolved around aerial photograph study. After fighting ended in April 1945, he and his colleague Peter Williams-Hunt continued to take targeted photos mainly of the Foggia and Lucera areas, having noticed several archaeological sites of interest during the previous months through air reconnaissance photographs, which they managed to save from being destroyed after the war. All the Bradford part of this collection comes from 1943-1959, having first been transferred to Barri Jones in 1960 when Bradford unfortunately succumbed to the illness that would severely debilitate him until his eventual death in 1975. Barri Jones, David Trump, and others were tasked with continuing the work in Apulia by the Apulia Committee of the Society of Antiquaries in 1961, and it is from the period immediately proceeding this commission that the bulk of the material relates to. Part of that commission had been to publish Bradford’s research, but this was only achieved after much delay in 1987, by which time much more had been uncovered, and Jones continued to work in Apulia throughout the 1990s.
The majority of this collection’s provenance is the personal archive of Barri Jones, removed from the University of Manchester upon the untimely death of that scholar in 1999, including the John Bradford documents included in this collection. The rest had been accumulated by David Trump from both Bradford and Jones either when he was working with Jones on-site in the 1960s, or later once Jones had passed away. From 2003-2005, Prof. Alastair Small of Edinburgh University had worked to locate the Bradford archive (such as it was) and promote its ready availability to scholars. It is from these efforts that we have the resulting collection.
Extent
10 Boxes
Abstract
A collection of personal notes, slides, negatives, and other documents relating mostly to the excavations centring around Lucera and Foggia that took place in the 1960s. Containing original excavation material from Neolithic, Roman, and Medieval sites in that area.
Arrangement
No prior arrangement had been utilised beyond a very rough grouping. As such the arranger has felt at liberty to implement a system which allows users to quickly find the papers that relate to the archaeological site that they are interested in.
As a result this collection has been organised into 3 series. These are the following:
1. Bradford Series
2. Jones Series
3. Trump Series
The items of each series have then been subdivided in each box according to location and or period in the following way: Collector – Site/Period (exact > general) - Item type - Approximate date.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was given to the BSR by Alastair Small and Francesca Radcliffe in 2006, along with a brief initial catalogue of the material.
Bibliography
Barri-Jones, G.D.B. (1987). Apulia. Volume I: Neolithic Settlement in the Tavoliere. Society of Antiquaries of London.
Bradford, J., Williams-Hunt P.R. (1946). Siticulosa Apulia, Antiquity, 20 [77], pp. 191-200.
Bradford, J. (1957). Ancient landscapes. Studies in Field Archaeology. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.
Colarossi, B. (1997). 'Il progetto di recupero in microfilm e di indicizzazione automatica dell'Archivio Allied Control Commission Italy 1943-1947', Imaging technologies for Archives. The Allied Control Commission Microfilm Project, Seminario Roma 26-27 aprile 1996, 25-41. Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali. Ufficio Centrale per i Beni Archivistici.
Cowley, D.C., Standring R.A., and Abicht M.J., editors. (2010). Landscapes through the lens. Aerial photographs and historic environment. Oxbow Books.
Guaitoli, M., editor. (2003). Lo sguardo di Icaro. Le collezioni dell'Aerofototeca Nazionale per la conoscenza del territorio. Campisano Editore.
Musson, C., Radcliffe Franchin, F. (2010). 'Lost and Found: John Bradford and aerial photographs of Italy and elsewhere from the 1940s', Landscapes through the lens. Aerial photographs and historic environment, 65-76. Oxbow Books.
Radcliffe Franchin, F., editor. (2006). Paesaggi sepolti in Daunia. John Bradford e la ricerca archeologica dal cielo, 1945-1957. Claudio Gerenzi Editore.
Processing Information
This collection arrived in 8 boxes with no particularly useful prior arrangement. Certain material arrived in expired protective containers, such as plastic holders for negatives and unmarked paper file holders, that have been disposed of, and the material preserved in new containers. An order has been imposed on it for the first time, which reflects both the need for accessibility and the original collector’s differentiation from one another. Processed by Benjamin Roth, 2025.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the British School at Rome Archive & Special Collections Repository