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EARLY NEOLITHIC ENCLOSURES IN WALES: A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE IN LIGHT OF RECENT DISCOVERIES AT CAERAU, CARDIFF

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

Oliver Davis ,
Niall Sharples  and
with a contribution from Jody Deacon
Oliver Davis
Affiliation:
School of History, Archaeology and Religion, University of Cardiff, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK. Email: [email protected]
Niall Sharples
Affiliation:
School of History, Archaeology and Religion, University of Cardiff, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Causewayed enclosures have recently been at the forefront of debate within British and European Neolithic studies. In the British Isles as a whole, the vast majority of these monuments are located in southern England, but a few sites are now beginning to be discovered beyond this core region. The search in Wales had seen limited success, but in the 1990s a number of cropmark discoveries suggested the presence of such enclosures west of the River Severn. Nonetheless, until now only two enclosures have been confirmed as Neolithic in Wales – Banc Du (in Pembrokeshire) and Womaston (in Powys) – although neither produced more than a handful of sherds of pottery, flint or other material culture. Recent work by the authors at the Iron Age hillfort of Caerau, Cardiff, have confirmed the presence of another, large, Early Neolithic causewayed enclosure in the country. Excavations of the enclosure ditches have produced a substantial assemblage of bowl pottery, comparable with better-known enclosures in England, as well as ten radiocarbon dates. This paper provides a complete review of the evidence for Neolithic enclosures in Wales, and discusses the chronology and context of the enclosures based on the new radiocarbon dates and material assemblages recovered from Caerau.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 97 , September 2017 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
© The Society of Antiquaries of London 2017 

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References

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