Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T08:29:43.015Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Iron Age Enclosed Settlements in West Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2013

K. Murphy ,
H. Mytum ,
L. Austin ,
A.E. Caseldine ,
C.J. Griffiths ,
A. Gwilt ,
P. Webster  and
T.P. Young
K. Murphy
Affiliation:
Dyfed Archaeological Trust, The Shire Hall, Carmarthen Street, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire SA19 6AF
H. Mytum
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Hartley Building, Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GS
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents the results of several years' research on late Iron Age enclosed settlements in west Wales. Geophysical survey was conducted on 21 sites and three of these, Troedyrhiw, Ffynnonwen, and Berry Hill, were part-excavated. Most sites examined were heavily plough-damaged, but results of the surveys and excavations demonstrated that substantial archaeological remains survive. Approximately 60 enclosed settlements lay in the core study area of southern Ceredigion (Cardiganshire), half of which were oval in shape and half rectangular. Both types contain suites of buildings seen in much of the British Iron Age – round-houses and 4-/6-post structures. Evidence from the excavations supports data from elsewhere in the region indicating that small oval enclosures appear in the landscape in the 2nd–1st centuries bc, with rectangular enclosures constructed right at the end of the Iron Age. Dating is based almost entirely on radiocarbon determinations as, in common with other similar-aged sites in west Wales, artefacts are almost completely absent. It was not possible during excavation at Troedyrhiw to conclusively demonstrate late prehistoric use of the rectangular enclosed settlement, but a Roman pottery assemblage in the upper fills of the enclosure ditch coupled with a two phase entrance is interpreted as indicating Late Iron Age construction. More complex remains were revealed during excavations at Ffynnonwen, a circular enclosed settlement within a larger oval enclosure. Here, three round-houses, a 4- and 6-post structure and other remains were investigated and radiocarbon dated to the 8th–6th centuries bc through to the early Romano-British period. Berry Hill, an inland promontory fort, appeared to be unfinished and abandoned. Radiocarbon determinations indicated a Late Bronze Age construction (10th–8th centuries bc). The paper concludes with a consideration of a number of interpretive issues regarding settlement, enclosure, identity, and ways of living.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 78 , 2012 , pp. 263 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allcock, L. 1963. Dinas Powys. Cardiff: University of Wales PressGoogle Scholar
Avent, R. 1973. Excavations at Llangynog II 1972. Carmarthenshire Antiquary 9, 33–52Google Scholar
Avent, R. 1975. Excavations at Llangynog II 1974. Carmarthenshire Antiquary 11, 21–52Google Scholar
Baring-Gould, S., Burnard, R. & Anderson, I.K. 1900. Exploration of Moel Trigarn. Archaeologia Cambrensis 17 (5th series), 189–211Google Scholar
Benson, D. & Williams, G. 1987. Dale Fort. Archaeology in Wales 27, 43Google Scholar
Bevan, B. (ed.). 1999. Northern Exposure: interpretive devolution and the Iron Ages in Britain. Leicester: Leicester Archaeology Monograph 4Google Scholar
Boardman, S. & Jones, G. 1990. Experiments on the effects of charring on cereal plant components. Journal of Archaeological Science 17, 1–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar
British Geological Survey. 1994. Geological Map of Wales. 1:250000 Scale. 1st edn SolidGoogle Scholar
Burl, A. 2000. The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. New Haven: Yale University PressGoogle Scholar
Carruthers, W. forthcoming. Charred plant remains. In P. Groom, G. Hughes & P. Crane, Excavations at Brownslade Barrow, Pembrokeshire. Archaeologia CambrensisGoogle Scholar
Caseldine, A.E. 1994. Charred plant remains from Pennant Melangell, 96–100 in W.J. Britnell, Excavation and recording at Pennant Melangell Church. The Montgomeryshire Collections 82, 41–102Google Scholar
Caseldine, A.E. 1999. Environmental and Archaeobotanical Evidence, in Crane, 1999, 118–28Google Scholar
Caseldine, A.E. & Barrow, C.J. 2010. Environmental evidence, in Crane, & Murphy, 2010, 86–9Google Scholar
Caseldine, A.E. & Holden, T.G. 1998. The carbonised plant remains, in Williams, & Mytum, 1998, 105–18Google Scholar
Chadwick, A. 1999. Digging ditches, but missing riches? Ways into the Iron Age and Romano-British cropmark landscapes of the north midlands, in Bevan, (ed.) 1999, 149–71Google Scholar
Charlesworth, D. 1967. Glass, in Wainwright, G. J., Coygan Camp; A Prehistoric, Romano-British and Dark Age Settlement in Carmarthenshire, 186–7. Cardiff: Cambrian Archaeological AssociationGoogle Scholar
Crane, P. 1999. Iron Age promontory fort to medieval castle? Excavations at Great Castle Head, Dale, Pembrokeshire, 1999. Archaeologia Cambrensis 148, 86–145Google Scholar
Crane, P. & Murphy, K. 2010. The excavation of a coastal promontory fort at Porth Y Rhaw, Solva, Pembrokeshire 1995–1998. Archaeologia Cambrensis 159, 53–98Google Scholar
Crossley, D.W. 1963. List of hill-forts and other earthworks in Pembrokeshire. Bulletin of the Board Celtic Studies 22(2), 171–205Google Scholar
Daniell, C. 1997. Death and Burial in Medieval England, 1066–1550. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Dark, K. 1987, 1988, 1990, & 1991. Excavations at Brawdy Hill-fort. Unpublished interim reports. Copies deposited with the Dyfed Historic Environment Record, Dyfed Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Darvill, T. 2002. White on blonde: quartz pebbles and the use of quartz at Neolithic monuments in the Isle of Man and beyond, in Jones, A. & MacGregor, G. (eds), Colouring the Past: the significance of colour in archaeological research, 73–92. Oxford: BergGoogle Scholar
Davies, J.L. & Lynch, F. 2000. The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, in Lynch, F., Aldhouse-Green, S. & Davies, J. L. (eds), Prehistoric Wales. Stroud: SuttonGoogle Scholar
Davies, O., Sharples, N. & Waddington, K. (eds). 2008. Changing Perspectives on the First Millennium BC. Oxford: Oxbow BooksGoogle Scholar
Edwards, N. 2007. A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales, Vol. II South-West Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales PressGoogle Scholar
Fasham, P. J. 1987. A Banjo Enclosure in Micheldever Wood, Hampshire. Winchester: Hampshire Field Club Monograph 2Google Scholar
Fox, A. 1952. Hill-slope forts and related earthworks in south-west England and south Wales. Archaeological Journal 109, 1–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, W., Savory, H.N. & Williams, I. 1964. Dinorben; a Hill-fort Occupied in Early Iron Age and Roman Times. Cardiff: National Museum of WalesGoogle Scholar
Gerritsen, F. 2003. Local Identities. Landscape and Community in the Late Prehistoric Meuse – Demer – Scheldt Region. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guido, P. 1978. The Glass Beads of the Prehistoric and Roman Periods in Britain and Ireland. London: Research Report of the Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London 35CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghey, E., Edwards, N., Johnston, R. & Pope, R. 2007. Characterising the Welsh roundhouse: chronology, inhabitation and landscape. Internet Archaeology 23.Google Scholar
Guilbert, G.C. 1975. Planned Hillfort Interiors. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 41, 203–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gwilt, A. 1997. Popular practices from material culture: a case study of the Iron Age settlement at Wakerley, Northamptonshire. In Gwilt, & Haselgrove, (eds) 1997, 153–66Google Scholar
Gwilt, A. & Haselgrove, C. 1997. Reconstructing Iron Age Societies. New Approaches to the British Iron Age. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 71Google Scholar
Haselgrove, C. & Moore, T. (eds). 2007. The Later Iron Age in Britain and Beyond. Oxford: Oxbow BooksGoogle Scholar
Haselgrove, C. & Pope, R. (eds). 2007. The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent. Oxford: Oxbow BooksGoogle Scholar
Henderson, J. 1982. X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Iron Age Glass. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of BradfordGoogle Scholar
Henderson, J. 1987. The archaeology and technology of glass from Meare Village East, in J.M. Coles, 1987, Meare Village East; The Excavations of A. Bullied and H. St George Gray 1932–1956, Somerset Levels Papers 13, 170–82Google Scholar
Henderson, J. C. 2007. The Atlantic Iron Age. Settlement and Identity in the First Millennium BC. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Hillman, G.C. 1981. Possible evidence of grain-roasting at Iron Age Pembrey, in Williams, G., Survey and excavation on Pembrey mountain. Carmarthenshire Antiquary 17, 25–8Google Scholar
Hingley, R. 1984. Towards social analysis in archaeology: celtic society in the Iron Age of the Upper Thames Valley (400–0 BC), in Cunliffe, B. and Miles, D. (eds), Aspects of the Iron Age in Central Southern Britain, 72–88. Oxford: Oxford University Committee for ArchaeologyGoogle Scholar
Hogg, A.H.A. 1973. Gaer Fawr and Carn Ingli: two major Pembrokeshire hill-forts. Archaeologia Cambrensis 122, 69–84Google Scholar
Hogg, A.H.A. 1974. Carn Goch, Carmarthenshire, Archaeologia Cambrensis 123, 43–53Google Scholar
Jacomet, S. 2006. Identification of Cereal Remains from Archaeological Sites. Archaeobotany Laboratory, IPAS, Basel UniversityGoogle Scholar
James, T. 1984. Aerial Reconnaissance in Dyfed, 1984. Archaeology in Wales 24, 12–24Google Scholar
James, T. 1988. Aerial Reconnaissance in Dyfed, 1988. Archaeology in Wales 28, 39–40Google Scholar
James, T. 1990. Concentric antenna enclosures – a new defended enclosure type in west Wales. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 56, 295–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, T.A. 1992. Air photography of ecclesiastical sites in south Wales, in Edwards, N. & Lane, A. (eds), The Early Church in Wales and the West, 62–76. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 13Google Scholar
Jobey, G. 1973. A native settlement at Hartburn and the Devil's Causeway, Northumberland, 1971. Archaeologia Aeliana (5th Series) 1, 11–53Google Scholar
Jobey, G. 1977. Iron Age and later farmsteads on Belling Law, Northumberland. Archaeologia Aeliana (5th Series) 5, 1–38Google Scholar
Jobey, G. 1978. Iron Age and Roman–British settlements in Kennel Hall Knowe, North Tynedale, Northumberland (1976). Archaeologia Aeliana (5th Series) 6, 1–28Google Scholar
Jobey, G. 1982. The settlement at Doubstead and Roman-British settlement on the coastal plain between Tyne and Forth. Archaeologia Aeliana (5th Series) 10, 1–23Google Scholar
Jones, F. 1954. The Holy Wells of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales PressGoogle Scholar
Knight, D. 2007. From open to enclosed: Iron Age landscapes of the Trent valley, in Haselgrove, & Pope, , (eds) 2007, 190–218Google Scholar
Lambrick, G. 2009. Settlements and settlement patterns, in Lambrick, G. with Robinson, M., The Thames through Time. The Archaeology of the Gravel Terraces of the Upper and Middle Thames. The Thames Valley in Late Prehistory: 1500 BC – AD 50, 91–131. Oxford: Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph 29Google Scholar
Leach, A. L. 1917. Supplementary Notes on Nanna's Cave, Isle of Caldey, Archaeologia Cambrensis (6th series) 17, 71–9Google Scholar
Lebour, N. 1914. White quartz pebbles and their archaeological significance. Transactions and Journal of Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society (Series 3) 2, 121–34Google Scholar
Marshall, J.W. & Walsh, C. 1998. Illaunloghan, Co. Kerry: an island hermitage, in Monk, M.A. & Sheehan, J. (eds), Early Medieval Munster. Archaeology, History and Society, 102–11. Cork: Cork University PressGoogle Scholar
Matthias, A.G.O. 1927. Miscellanea: South Pembrokeshire Early Settlements, Archaeologia Cambrensis 82, 188–95Google Scholar
Moore, T. 2007. The Early to Later Iron Age transition in the Severn-Cotswolds: enclosing the household? in Haselgrove, & Pope, (eds) 2007, 279–292Google Scholar
Murphy, K. 1985. Excavations at Penycoed, Llangynog, Dyfed, 1983. Carmarthenshire Antiquary 21, 75–112Google Scholar
Murphy, K & Murphy, F. 2010. Iron Age Hillforts and Defended Enclosure in Southwest Wales, Internet Archaeology 28. http://intarch.ac.ukGoogle Scholar
Murphy, K., Mytum, H., Carver, R. & Wilson., H. 2004. Rectangular Crop-marked Enclosures in South Ceredigion. Cambria Archaeology, Unpublished Report 2004/97. Copy deposited with the Dyfed Historic Environment Record, Dyfed Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Murphy., K., Mytum, H., Carver, R. & Wilson, H. 2006. Crop-Marked Enclosures in South Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire 2005: Geophysical Survey. Cambria Archaeology, Unpublished Report 2006/7. Copy deposited with the Dyfed Historic Environment Record, Dyfed Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Murphy., K., Mytum, H., Bosworth, L. & Wilson, H. 2007a. Crop-Marked Enclosures in South Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire 2006: Geophysical Survey. Cambria Archaeology Unpublished Report 2006/109. Copy deposited with the Dyfed Historic Environment Record, Dyfed Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Murphy., K., Mytum, H., Bosworth, L. & Wilson, H. 2007b. Crop-Marked Enclosures in Southwest Wales, 2007: Geophysical Survey. Cambria Archaeology Unpublished Report 2007/89. Copy deposited with the Dyfed Historic Environment Record, Dyfed Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Murphy, F., Page, M., Ramsey, R. & Wilson, H. 2010. Scheduling Enhancement Project 2010: Prehistoric Sites Fieldwork. Dyfed Archaeological Trust Unpublished Report. Copy deposited with the Dyfed Historic Environment Record, Dyfed Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Musson, C.R. 1991. The Breiddin Hillfort. A Later Prehistoric Settlement in the Welsh Marches. York: Council for British Archaeology Research Report 76Google Scholar
Mytum, H. 1988. On-site and off-site evidence for changes in subsistence economy: Iron Age and Romano-British west Wales. In Binford, J.L., Davidson, D.A. & Grant, E.G. (eds), Conceptual Issues in Environmental Archaeology, 72–81. Edinburgh: University PressGoogle Scholar
Mytum, H. 1989. The recognition and interpretation of intra-site patterning on sites with small numbers of finds: the example of Walesland Rath. Scottish Archaeological Review 6, 65–74Google Scholar
Mytum, H. 1991a. Castell Henllys Iron Age fort 1981–89. Archaeology in Wales 29, 6–9Google Scholar
Mytum, H. 1991b. Castell Henllys Iron Age fort. Fortress 9, 3–11Google Scholar
Mytum, H. 1992. The Origins of Early Christian Ireland. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Mytum, H. 1996a. Hillfort siting and monumentality: Castell Henllys and Geographical Information Systems. Archaeology in Wales 36, 3–10Google Scholar
Mytum, H. 1999. Castell Henllys. Current Archaeology 161, 164–71Google Scholar
Mytum, H. forthcoming. Monumentality in Late Prehistory: Building and rebuilding Castell HenllysGoogle Scholar
Mytum, H. & Webster, C. 1989. A survey of the Iron Age enclosure and chevaux-de-frise at Carn Alw, Dyfed. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 55, 263–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nedervelde, J. van. 1975. Caldey Island Cave Excavations 1975. Annual bulletin typescriptGoogle Scholar
Probert, L.A. 1976. Twyn-y-Gaer hill-fort, Gwent: an interim assessment, in Boon, G.C. & Lewis, J.M. (eds), Welsh Antiquity; Essays Mainly on Prehistoric Topics Presented to H.N. Savory upon his Retirement as Keeper of Archaeology, 105–19. Cardiff: National Museum of WalesGoogle Scholar
Quinnell, H. 2004. Trethurgy: Excavations at Trethurgy Round, St Austell. Truro: Cornwall County CouncilGoogle Scholar
Rees, G. 2008. Enclosure boundaries and settlement individuality in the Iron Age, in Davies, et al. (eds) 2008, 61–82Google Scholar
Sablerolles, Y. & Henderson, J. 2010. Glass beads, in Crane, & Murphy, 2010, 78–9Google Scholar
Savory, H.N. 1954, List of Hill forts and other earthworks in Wales, V, Carmarthenshire. Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 16, 54–69Google Scholar
Savory, H.N. 1971. A Welsh Bronze Age hillfort. Antiquity 45, 251–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoch, W., Heller, I., Schweingruber, F.H. & Kienast, F. 2004. Wood Anatomy of Central European Species. Online version:Google Scholar
Schoch, W.H., Pawlik, B. & Schweingruber, F.H. 1988. Botanical Macro-remains. Berne: Paul HauptGoogle Scholar
Schweingruber, F.H. 1978. Microscopic Wood Anatomy. Lodno: Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow & Landscape ResearchGoogle Scholar
Sharples, N. 2007. Building communities and creating identities in the first millennium BC, in Haselgrove, & Pope, (eds) 2007, 174–84Google Scholar
Stace, C. 1991. The New British Flora. Cambridge: University PressGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S.C. 1974. Croft Ambrey: excavations carried out for the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, 1960–1966. Leominster: S.C. StanfordGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S.C. 1981. Midsummer Hill: an Iron Age hillfort on the Malverns. Leominster: S.C. StanfordGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S.C. 1984. The Wrekin hillfort excavations 1973. Archaeological Journal 141, 61–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar
St David's University College Archaeology Unit. 1984–1986. The Caer Cadwgan Project. Unpublished interim reportsGoogle Scholar
St Joseph, J.K.S. 1961. Aerial Reconnaissance in Wales. Antiquity 35, 263–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. & Rieimer, P.J. 1993. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, C. 1994. And Shall These Mute Stones Speak? Post-Roman Inscriptions in Western Britain. Cardiff: University of Wales PressGoogle Scholar
Walker, E. A. 1999. Note: Burry Holms, Gower (SS 4001 9247). Archaeology in Wales 39, 92–3Google Scholar
Van der Veen, M. & Jones, G. 2006. A re-analysis of agricultural production and consumption: implications for understanding the British Iron Age. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 15, 217–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Veen, M. & Jones, G. 2007. The production and consumption of cereals: a question of scale, in Haselgrove, & Moore, (eds) 2007, 419–29Google Scholar
Vyner, B.E. 1982. Excavations at Woodbarn Rath, Wiston, 1969. Archaeologia Cambrensis 131, 49–57Google Scholar
Vyner, B.E. 1986. Woodbarn, Wiston: a Pembrokeshire Rath. Archaeologia Cambrensis 135, 121–33Google Scholar
Wainwright, G.J. 1971a. The excavation of fortified settlement at Walesland Rath, Pembrokeshire. Britannia 2, 48–108CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wainwright, G.J. 1971b. Excavations at Tower Point, St Brides, Pembrokeshire. Archaeologia Cambrensis 120, 84–90Google Scholar
Walker, E. A. 1999. Note: Burry Holms, Gower (SS 4001 9247). Archaeology in Wales 39, 92–3Google Scholar
Williams, G. 1981. Survey and Excavation on Pembrey Mountain. Carmarthenshire Antiquary 17, 3–33Google Scholar
Williams, G. & Mytum, H. 1998. Llawhaden, Dyfed: excavations on a group of small defended enclosures, 1980–4. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 275CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, G., Darke, I., Parry, C. & Isacc, J. 1988. Recent archaeological work on Merlin's Hill, Abergwili. Carmarthen Antiquary 24, 5–13Google Scholar
Willis, S. 1999. Without and within: aspects of culture and community in the Iron Age of north-eastern England, in Bevan, (ed.) 1999, 81–110Google Scholar