Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T19:34:54.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Excavation of an Iron Age Souterrain and Settlement at Carn Euny, Sancreed, Cornwall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

Patricia M. L. Christie ,
S. M. Elsdon ,
G. W. Dimbleby ,
A. Saville ,
S. Rees ,
E. Fowler  and
D. F. Williams
Patricia M. L. Christie
Affiliation:
Bays Cottage, Henham, Bishop's Stortford, Herts
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The ancient village of Carn Euny, formerly known as Chapel Euny, lies on a south-west slope just above the 500 foot contour in the parish of Sancreed in West Cornwall (fig. 1). The granite uplands of the region are rich in antiquities, as a glance at a recent survey shows (Russell 1971), not least those of the prehistoric period. The hill on which the site is situated is crowned by the circular Iron Age Fort of Caer Brane (pl. 27). Across the dry valley to the north-west rises the mass of Bartinny Down, with its barrows, while in the valley below the site near the hamlet of Brane is a small, well preserved entrance grave and other evidence of prehistoric activity. To the south-east about one mile away is the recently excavated village of Goldherring dating from the first few centuries of our era (Guthrie 1969). From later times, the holy well of St Uny and the former chapel which gave its name to the site, lie nearby to the west. The village contains a fine souterrain, locally known as a fogou, after a Cornish word meaning a cave (Thomas 1966, 79).

Nothing appears to have been known of the settlement or Fogou before the first half of the 19th century when the existence of an unexplored fogou at Chapel Uny is first mentioned by the Reverend John Buller (1842), shortly followed by Edmonds (1849) who described to the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society an ‘Ancient Cave’ which had been discovered by miners prospecting for tin.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 44 , December 1978 , pp. 309 - 433
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1978

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

REFERENCES

Ashbee, P., 1970. ‘Excavations at Halangy Down, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, 1969–70’, Cornish Archaeology, 9, 69–76.Google Scholar
Avery, M., 1971. ‘Some Aspects of the Iron Age in South-Western England’. Unpublished thesis presented to Oxford University.Google Scholar
Avery, M., 1972–1973. ‘British La Tène decorated pottery: an outline’, Etudes Celtiques, 13, 522–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bersu, G., 1977. Three Iron Age Round Houses in the Isle of Man. The Manx Museum & National Trust.Google Scholar
Blight, J. T., 1865. Churches of W. Cornwall with Notes on the Antiquities of the District, p. 137 (plan of Carn Euny) and pp. 139–142 (Bosporthennis).Google Scholar
Borlase, W. C., 1864. Excavations and Discoveries 1863–4, MS volume, Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro.Google Scholar
Borlase, W. C., 1868–1869. ‘Subterranean chambers at Chapel Euny …’, Proc. Soc. Antiquaries, 4, 4, 161–170.Google Scholar
Brailsford, J. W., 1975. ‘The Polden Hill hoard, Somerset’, PPS, 41, 229, fig. 6e.Google Scholar
Brodribb, A. C. C., Hands, A. R. and Walker, D. R., 1968. Excavations at Shakenoak I. Oxford.Google Scholar
Brooks, R. T., 1974. ‘The Excavation of The Rumps Cliff Castle, St Minver, Cornwall’, Cornish Archaeology, 13, 5–50.Google Scholar
RevBuller, J., 1842. A Statistical Account of the Parish of Saint Just in Penwith in the County of Cornwall, p. 82. Penzance.Google Scholar
Christie, P. M., 1965-–1970 and 1976. Interim reports on Carn Euny excavations, Cornish Archaeology, 4–9 and 15.Google Scholar
Clark, Evelyn, 1961. Cornish Fogous. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D., 1933. The Mesolithic Age in Britain.Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D., 1958. ‘Blade and trapeze industries of the European Stone Age’. PPS, 24, 24–42.Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D., and Rankine, W. F., 1939. ‘Excavations at Farnham, Surrey’. PPS, 5, 61–118.Google Scholar
Clayden, B., 1964. ‘Soils of Cornwall’ in Present Views on Some Aspects of the Geology of Cornwall and Devon. Truro, Blackford.Google Scholar
Crofts, C. B., 1954–1955. ‘Maen Castle, Sennen: The Excavation of an Early Iron Age Promontory Fort’. Proc. West Corn. Field Club, 1, 98–115.Google Scholar
Dudley, D., 1956. ‘An excavation at Bodrifty, Mulfra Hill, near Penzance, Cornwall’, Arch. J., 113, 1–32.Google Scholar
Edmonds, R., 1849. ‘An Ancient Cave near Penzance’. Trans. Penzance Nat. Hist. Antiq. Soc., 1, 310–313.Google Scholar
Evens, E. D., Smith, I. F. and Wallis, F. S., 1972. ‘The petrological identification of stone implements from South-Western England. Fifth report of the sub-committee of the South-Western Federation of Museums and Art Galleries’. PPS, 38, 268 no. 1378.Google Scholar
Fowler, E., 1960. ‘The origin and development of the penannular Brooch in Europe’. PPS, 26, 149–177.Google Scholar
Fox, Aileen, 1964. South West England, 151–2. London, Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Fox, C., 1941. ‘The Non-Socketed Bronze Sickles of the British Isles’. Archaeol. Cambrensis, 96, 136–162.Google Scholar
Guthrie, A., 1969. ‘Excavations of a Settlement at Goldherring, Sancreed, 1958–61’. Cornish Archaeology, 8, 5–39.Google Scholar
Gelling, P. S., 1977. ‘Excavations on Pilsdon Pen, Dorset, 1964–71’. PPS, 43, 263–286.Google Scholar
Harris, S. C., 1977. ‘The Cave of Lovers in the ‘Tristramssaga’ and related Tristan romances’. Romania 98, 306–330, 460–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hencken, H. O'N., 1932. The Archaeology of Cornwall and Stilly. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Hencken, H. O'N., 1933. ‘An Excavation by H. M. Office of Works at Chysauster, Cornwall, 1931’. Archaeologia, 83, 237–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirst, F. C., 1934. ‘Beehive Hut, or Fougou, at Bosporthennis, Zennor’, 101 Arm. Rep. Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Soc. (Falmouth).Google Scholar
Hirst, F. C., 1937. ‘Excavations at Porthmeor, Cornwall, 1933, 1934 and 1935’. Jour. Royal Institution of Cornwall, 24 (supplement).Google Scholar
Hirst, F. C., 1937. ‘Courtyard House sites in West Cornwall’, Journ Brit. Archaeol. Assoc., 2 (3rd series), 71–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeds, E. T., 1927. ‘Excavations at Chun Castle, in Penwith, Cornwall’. Archaeologia, 76, 205–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukis, W. C., 1885. Prehistoric Stone Monuments of the British Isles: Cornwall. London.Google Scholar
Miles, H., 1977. ‘Excavations at Killibury’. Cornish Archaeology, 16, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Miles, H. and Miles, T., 1972. ‘Excavations at Trethurgy, St Austell’. Cornish Archaeology, 12, 25–30.Google Scholar
Murray Threipland, L., 1956. ‘An excavation at St Mawgan-in-Pydar (Carsloggas), North Cornwall’. Arch. J., 113, 33–81.Google Scholar
Peacock, D. P. S., 1969. ‘A contribution to the study of Glastonbury ware from South-Western Britain’. Ant. J., 49, 41–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peacock, D. P. S., 1971. ‘Roman amphorae in pre-Roman Britain’, in Jesson, M. and Hill, D. (eds.), The Iron Age and its Hillforts. Southampton, 161–188.Google Scholar
Piggott, S., 1952–1953. ‘Three Metal-Work Hoards of the Roman period from Southern Scotland’. Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., 87, 1–50.Google Scholar
Radford, C. A. R., 1951. ‘Report on the Excavations at Castle Dore’. Jour. Royal Institution of Cornwall, I (Appendix).Google Scholar
Radley, J. and Mellars, P. A., 1964. ‘A Mesolithic structure at Deepcar, Yorkshire, England, and the affinities of its associated flint industries’. PPS, 30, 1–24.Google Scholar
Ralph, E. K., Michael, H. N. and Han, M. C., 1973. ‘Radiocarbon Dates and Reality’. MASCA Newsletter (of the Applied Center for Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania), 9, 1, August.Google Scholar
Reynolds, P. J., 1974. ‘Experimental Iron Age Storage Pits: An Interim Report’. PPS, 40, 118–131.Google Scholar
Reynolds, P. J., 1977. ‘Experimental Archaeology and the Butser Ancient Farm project’, in Collis, John (ed.), The Iron Age in Britain—a review. University of Sheffield.Google Scholar
Russell, Vivien, 1971. West Penwith Survey. Cornwall Archaeological Society Parochial Checklist Survey. Truro.Google Scholar
Schwappach, F., 1969. ‘Stempelverzierte Keramik von Armorica’, Fundberichte aus Hessen, Beiheft I, (Festschrift Dehn).Google Scholar
Schweiso, J., 1976. ‘Excavations at Threemilestone Round, Kenwyn, Truro’. Cornish Archaeology, 15, 51–67.Google Scholar
Smith, K., 1977. ‘The Excavation of Winklebury Camp, Basingstoke, Hampshire’. PPS, 43, 31–130.Google Scholar
Stone, J. F. S. and Wallis, F. S., 1951. ‘Third report of the Sub-Committee of the South-western Group of Museums and Art Galleries on the Petrological Determination of Stone Axes’. PPS, 17, 99–158.Google Scholar
Thomas, Charles, 1966. ‘The character and origins of Roman Dumnonia’. CBA Research Report, 7, 74–98.Google Scholar
Thomas, Charles, 1972. ‘Souterrains in the Irish Sea Province: a note’ in The Iron Age in the Irish Sea Province, CBA Research Report, 9, 75–78.Google Scholar
Thomas, I., 1960. ‘The Excavations at Kynance 1953–1960’. The Lizard, 1, 4, 5–15.Google Scholar
SirWheeler, M. and Richardson, K. M., 1957. Hill-Forts of Northern France. Research Report 19, Society of Antiquaries, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, D. F., 1976. ‘Petrology of the pottery’, in Schweiso, J., ‘Excavations at Threemilestone Round, Kenwyn, Truro’. Cornish Archaeology, 15, 63–64.Google Scholar