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Cyngor Archaeoleg BrydeinigCYMRUCouncil for British ArchaeologyWALES** Online Information for Archaeology in Wales **
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Extending the iron age in Western Montgomeryshire
Recent work at Skenfrith Castle
Penllergare Valley Woods: a secret & magical place
A timber trackway at Llangynfelyn, Ceredigion
Fan Foel bronze age round barrow
National Archaeology Day 2004 held by the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust at Powysland Museum
Rectangular defended enclosures in South Ceredigion
Archaeology in Wales 2004 &mdash A Request for Articles
A Research Framework for the Archaeology of Wales &mdash latest update
2004 Autumn Meeting and Symposium
Winter aerial reconnaissance by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales recently bought to light a substantial new hillfort at Pen’r-allt just to the north of Llanidloes (NPRN 400895). The site was first photographed on 14th March 2003 when three short, parallel lengths of bank were seen blocking the ‘landward’ end of a steep-sided promontory just north of Llanidloes Golf Club. It was re-photographed under melting spring snow in 2004, but was not confirmed until a field visit was finally made in July 2004.
The Pen'r-allt hillfort occupies a prominent, rounded ridge at 291m O.D., aligned SW/NE overlooking the steep valley of the Afon Clywedog from the north and generally commanding the confluence of the Clywedog and the Severn just over a kilometre to the south. The defences of the hillfort comprise three parallel ramparts at the northeast end defending the main gateway of the fort. The interior was presumably defined by the elongated summit of the ridge, which is naturally defended by precipitous slopes on the southeast and northwest sides. There appear to be no surviving ramparts defining the main body of the hillfort. The ridge extends to some 200m x 60m, with the hillfort thus enclosing about 1.2ha. The entrance ramparts were built in a slight hollow alongside a spring facing a shallow valley, with rising ground to the northeast. They are therefore not immediately visible to those approaching from the steeper slopes on either side of the hill. This fact, coupled with the lack of a complete defensive circuit to augment the impressive entrance ramparts, has probably contributed to the fort’s obscurity.
Preliminary measurements show the outer rampart to be c.36m long with a rock-cut outer ditch and a simple entrance gap at the south end. The middle rampart, upslope from the last is nearly 25m long and has a centrally placed gateway. These two outer gateways set 10m apart give access to the main inner rampart which stands c.3-4m tall from the base of the outer, rock-cut ditch to the crest of the bank. This main rampart forms a tall barrier c.44m long with no entrance gap. Access appears to have been gained around one terminal of the rampart, presumably on the south side.
The Pen'r-allt hillfort forms the southernmost example of a coherent group of hillforts sited around the Afon Clwyedog and the Upper Severn Valley, which can probably be extended east to include Cefncarnedd near Llandinam. The defensive arrangement of three short ramparts at the apex of a long ridge has much in common with neighbouring hillforts including Cefncarnedd (built on a far larger scale), and other distinctive hillforts designs found across Powys and Ceredigion.
There was a surprise when a set of 1951 vertical aerial photographs for the area were examined and a second, smaller univallate hillfort was discovered on a neighbouring ridge to the south-west, at Penybanc (NPRN 400999) above Glan-y-Nant overlooking the River Severn. The continuing re-discovery of upstanding hillforts from aerial reconnaissance (seen also with discoveries at Allt Aber Mangoed, Dolaucothi, AW 42, 96-7, and Sugar Loaf, Llanfair-ar-y-bryn, AW 41, 118-9) demonstrates the need to constantly re-assess and question our knowledge of the extents and types of later prehistoric settlement along the inland hills and river valleys of central Wales.
Toby Driver
RCAHMW, Crown Building,
Plas Crug,
Abersytwyth,
Ceredigion. SY23 1NJ.
email: Toby.driver@rcahmw.org.uk
What, I wonder, is the collective noun for a group of lady, crime novelists? A scream, perhaps, or a bloodlust, or, my own personal favourite, a Christie! Why, you may well ask, am I exercising the ‘little grey cells’ over this matter? Recently I found myself in the company of such a group, shall we say a Christie of Crime Novelists, gathered, on the summer solstice as it happens, in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Wales, Lampeter. Not all of the twelve strong group belonged to the Christie &mdash the ever-such-nice women with a hidden macabre streak. Some of those presenting themselves for the six day, short introductory course on forensic archaeology were, no doubt, budding detectives, others were fascinated Archaeology and Anthropology students, yet others merely of a suspicious disposition, ever on the look out for strange and mysterious happenings!
And what an exciting and stimulating course it turned out to be. With plenty of field work and hands-on experience included, Dr Ros Coard, course leader and member of staff at Lampeter, had compiled an itinerary of sessions for us which covered the identification of human and animal bones; physical anthropology; forensic taphonomy; geophysical survey and soil and pollen analysis. Most of these sessions were led by Dr Coard and her departmental colleague, Dr Martin Bates, who accompanied us on a field trip to the Cistercian Abbey at Strata Florida, to conduct a geophysical survey and a study of the ground for possible human disturbance. We were, however, also extremely fortunate, in that we spent a day with Dr Andrew Chamberlain from the University of Sheffield, whose expertise is in advanced human skeletal analysis. Even those among us who arrived as complete novices to forensic taphonomy, came away from the course able to identify animal and human bones, able to record age and sex skeletal remains, and to recognize pathology and traumas, ante and post mortem - and all thanks to Ros and Andrew!
The emphasis of the course was, of course, the increasing role played by archaeology and anthropology in forensic science. A relatively new discipline, the collection, recording and study of forensic evidence using archaeological and anthropological methods is rapidly gaining a place of significance in the detection of crime and the securing of convictions &mdash including the investigation of mass graves and scenes of crimes of genocide. During our exploration of all the techniques covered over the week, the course leaders were ever at pains to place forensic archaeology and anthropology within the context of the legal process and the sensitive ethical issues involved in dealing with, what are after all, human remains.
Other practical sessions were led by Mr Chris Davis, who has a background in Forensic Archaeology and 17 years experience as a Scene of Crime Officer with the Metropolitan Police Service. He taught us how to gather fingerprints, cast shoe marks, identify blood spill patterns and about the complex techniques of DNA analysis. We also visited the Crown Courts in Cardiff, where we interviewed presiding judges, defence lawyers and sat in on an attempted murder trial. On the final day of the course, Chris constructed various scenes of crime for us to investigate. I must say, our group did extremely well except, that is, for missing the murder weapon, a gun, which had been left at the crime scene! Oh well, with luck the University at Lampeter will run a similar course again and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get it right next time!
Stephanie A Tillotson
Skenfrith Castle has seen some major earth moving during 20003 to provide a defence against the River Monow which is working its way steadily closer to the foot of the castle. Geophysical Survey showed the line of the stone-lined moat around the castle, but its course nearer the river was inconclusive. Trial trenching was undertaken to establish the line of the moat, which was found to curl around the edge of the castle, rather than extend to the edge of the river. Also included in the trial trenching was the area along the riverbank to assess this for occupation since a number of areas of rubble were visible in the river adjacent to possible stonewalls in the side of the riverbank. A number of walls were found running back from the riverbank.
An archaeological watching brief was maintained during the grading of the bank for insertion of boulders to protect the castle. Quite unexpected was the discovery, just inside the riverbank, of a stone quay 20m long with steps at one end and a small channel for boats at the other. Further along the bank lay a substantial wharf wall 3m tall with a stone building adjacent to it. The latter had evidently projected into the river and survived as an area of stone tumble on the riverbed.
Finds from the silt in the small channel comprised environmental remains, with seeds, pips and nuts, pottery and glass. Provisional dating places the wharf to the mid 12th century. Floors in the building adjacent to the quay were sealed by a thick deposit of gravel, over which was evidence of industrial activity.
It is documented that Hugh de Burgh built much of the castle between 1219 and 1232, raising floor levels with dumps of gravel to avoid flooding. This gives us a key date for the works and indicates that the wharf and quay walls pre-date the 13th century works.
Cambrian Archaeological Projects Ltd
The stone quay discovered during river management works at Skenfrith Castle
* the historic spelling for the estate &mdash as distinct from the later village &mdash is used throughout.
In the light of the longstanding failure of legal agreements for the management of this important cultural landscape Ymddiriedolaeth Penllergare &mdash The Penllergare Trust, an independent company with charitable objectives, was established in 2000 to further its protection, conservation, restoration and upkeep.
Since the winding-up of the dysfunctional agreements has prevented early entry for works on the ground the delay has been used to good effect by pursuing vigorous community, education and research programmes. Archaeology is a major component of the latter.
In 2002 Cambria Archaeology initiated a GIS (MapInfo) database of the cultural, archaeological and historic development of Penllergare and its setting. The aims of this database are:
The 12-week, largely desk-top exercise at Llandeilo resulted in 20 groups of maps and 203 data points (previously the SMR recorded ony five such points), together with some 220 images, 25 text records of significant locations and 111 people associated with the estate. A post-graduate student, grant-aided through the Cymru Prosper scheme, made a major contribution to the project.
This photograph of c. 1852 by John Dillwyn Llewelyn show ‘The Shanty’ a small lakeside summerhouse now gone.
Data from a subsequent Phase One Ecological Survey has been added, together with a survey of the walled garden and environs (Murphy, Cambria Archaeology, Report No. 2004/27, February 2004).
This topographic survey (the first of a number planned) was informed by an unpublished report of a survey by Briggs & Ward in 2000 for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, which stated that, "Even its present derelict state, the kitchen garden complex is one of the most extensive surviving in Wales outside a major stately home. Its original range of forcing houses must still rate it amongst the most comprehensive group ever built in Britain. Of particular interest to the history of botany is the orchid house, a building at the leading edge of orchid cultivation from c. 1835 .....".
Further information on the Penllergare project can be obtained from the website www.penllergare.org (a news-letter is available through this means), or by e-mailing contact@penllergare.org
Michael Norman
Ymddiriedolaeth Penllergare &mdash
The Penllergare Trust
During June 2004 Cambria Archaeology undertook the partial excavation of a timber trackway crossing Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) in Ceredigion (SN 64929064). The work was partly funded by Cadw and involved students from the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham.
The trackway is visible on the surface as a low bank running across a pasture field. A single trial trench was initially excavated across the bank in March and it was found to cover a series of timbers forming a walkway about 1.5m wide. The timbers had been laid across two wooden ‘rails’ and the whole structure was supported by a series of wooden pegs or stakes hammered into the peat. The trackway had then been covered in layers of gravel effectively forming a roadway across the bog. Two 10th - 11th Century AD radiocarbon dates were obtained from two of the timbers. Two larger areas of the trackway were excavated in June accompanied by an extensive programme of palaeoenvironmental sampling. Dendrochonological dates suggest that three of the timbers are from trees that were felled between AD1080 and AD1120.
One of the trenches was located at the southern end of the visible causeway where the trackway was found to overlie an extensive area of burning and industrial debris. Samples from this waste will hopefully give an indication of the nature and date of the industrial processes that were taking place in this area. It seems possible that the trackway linked this area of industrial activity with the ‘island’ of Llangynfelin to the north.
The excavation attracted extensive local interest with visits from all the local schools and a very successful open day. The work also received lots of coverage from the local media and TV news. Cambria Archaeology ran a ‘dig diary’ to coincide with the excavation and this can still be viewed at www.acadat.com/digdiary.htm.
Gwilym Hughes
Cambria Archaeology has recently been working with the Brecon Beacons National Park and Cadw on a project to record and protect the remains of a Bronze Age burial mound at Fan Foel on Mynydd Du, Carmarthenshire (SN 8215 2234). The condition of the monument was recorded in June 2002 as part of the Cadw-funded Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Sites Assessment project. It was observed that the barrow had been suffering from severe erosion both from the wind and rain and from visitors moving stones to form a ‘walker’s cairn’.
The low burial mound covered a stone, box-like, cist and was surrounded by a ring of stone approximately 11m in diameter. Both the cist and the stones were recorded and excavated in June 2004. The cist was about 1m long and 0.5m wide and contained a pile of cremated bone, a broken pottery urn (possibly a Food Vessel) and several flint tools. A second cremation deposit was recovered from the surrounding stone together with fragments from a Collared Urn.
The surviving elements of the monument have now been protected beneath terram matting and backfilled with stone and turf.
Gwilym Hughes
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and Powysland Museum held a very successful National Archaeology Day on Saturday 10th July at Powysland Museum, Welshpool. The highlight of the day was the presence of re-enactors who gave talks and demonstrations of Saxon and Welsh medieval life.
Children also had the opportunity to dress as Saxons, write their name in runes, study finds and make Saxon finger-puppets! The Clwyd-Powys Regional Sites & Monuments Record was available for study at Powysland Museum.
On the right, a member of Cwmwd lâl Early Medieval Welsh re-enactment group at Welshpool.
National Archaeology Day is organised by the Council for British Archaeology and its Young Archaeologists’ Club. Please log onto the CPAT website www.cpat.org.uk for the latest information, and visit www.britarch.ac.uk/nads for information on events across the whole of the UK.
Jeff Spencer
Over the past 20 years approximately 30 cropmark defended enclosures have been discovered in the rich farmland of southern Ceredigion through aerial photography. Terry James of Cambria Archaeology made the initial discoveries, Chris Musson of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales photographed further sites, and more recently Toby Driver, of the same organisation, has continued the work (see the Spring 2004 Newsletter for details). Many of these newly located sites are rectangular in shape, prompting questions about their origins and function.
During the summer of 2004 Cambria Archaeology in partnership with the Department of Archaeology of the University of York carried out topographic and geophysical survey on eight selected rectangular enclosures. Cambria Archaeology undertook the topographic element as part of a Cadw grant-aided project and the geophysics was carried out by York. Owing to the dry soil conditions of July and early August resistivity was not an appropriate technique. However, high-resolution gradiometry provided very useful results, with most surveys locating some internal features, including round-houses. These strongly suggest an Iron Age origin for the rectangular enclosures rather than a Romano-British date. It is hoped that the project can be developed over the next few years.
Ken Murphy
Gradiometry survey of Blaensaith enclosure. The silted defensive ditch and the plough-out bank are clearly visible as are two round-houses. The southern house has a west-facing entrance and the northern house appears to be of at least two phases. Other internal features are present, including other possible round-houses.
Articles for inclusion in the forthcoming Archaeology in Wales should be sent to the editor at address below as soon as possible as refereeing etc has to be arranged. Usually about five articles are included in each edition, but so far none has been received.
Frances Lynch Llywelyn,
Halfway House,
Halfway Bridge
Bangor
Gwynedd LL57 3DG
or f.m.lynch@btopenworld.com
Draft, pan-Wales papers were presented for each of the major chronological periods and themes at a successful seminar held in Aberystwyth on September 4th 2004. The objective of the meeting was to identify the principal issues that will form the foundation for any future research strategy. All the papers were the result of a collaboration between the individuals who chaired the various regional working groups. A useful and lively discussion followed each paper, chaired by Richard Avent. The contributors will now be invited to revise the papers in the light of this discussion. However, we are aware that not everyone was able to attend this meeting and we are sure that many will have an important contribution to make to this process. With this in mind, all the draft papers have now been posted on the research agenda website (www.cpat.org.uk/research) and further contributions to the discussion are welcome.
If you have any comments to make on any of the individual papers or on the process in general could you make them either to the individual contributors or to Gwilym Hughes (gwilym@acadat.com) or Chris Martin (ChrisMartin@cpat.org.uk). We would be grateful if comments could be made before November 1st - the contributors will then be asked to revise their papers during November. Consideration will then be given to the development of an integrated strategic framework for archaeological investigation and the historic environment in Wales.
There have been considerable changes at Archaeology Cymru over the past 12 months. Speakers for lectures, tours and conferences are no longer being offered and the finds liaison scheme has ceased, as it could not be financed. This scheme, under the co-ordination of Graham Oxlade, was a great success, with many new finds reported at open days at Pontypridd Museum and the Vale of Glamorgan Show, and at lectures and house visits. Amongst the more important finds were two Bronze Age axes and late Roman coins. These and others will be reported on in the forthcoming Archaeology in Wales.
After six seasons Archaeology Cymru’s excavation at St Bride’s Major concluded in December 2003. Post excavation work is progressing with a planned completion date of late 2006. Archaeology Cymru is committed to publishing the results of its fieldwork and other research across south Wales, and its journal is available to subscribers. Readers of this newsletter can receive a free copy by sending two first class stamps to cover postage to Archaeology Cymru, 2 White Well Farm Cottages, Bonvilston, Cardiff CF5 6TQ.
Karl-James Langford,
editor Archaeology Cymru Journal
The Autumn Business Meeting of CBA Wales/Cymru will be held in the Village Hall Llangynidr (an on-line map is available here) on the morning of Saturday 13 March 2004 starting at 11.00am. The Symposium, held in association with the Llangynidr Local History Society, will take place in the afternoon, when we are very pleased to invite non-members as well as members to hear these talks of particular local interest.
The Autumn Business Meeting and the Annual General Meeting of CBA Wales/Cymru will be held at Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth on the morning of Saturday 23 October 2004 starting at 11.00am. The Symposium will take place in the afternoon: CBA Wales/Cymru welcomes non-members as well as members to hear these talks of topical and local interest. (An on-line map is available here)
Lunch &mdash Machynlleth has many lunch options. The Committee will also be able to offer tea or coffee at Y Tabernacl if you wish to bring a packed lunch.
During lunch please take the opportunity to browse the CBA bookstall where you will find back numbers of Archaeology in Wales and a good selection of Central CBA publications. We also hope that as usual, Nick, Eva and Susanna Moore of Castle Books, will be offering a selection of second-hand, antiquarian and bargain books for sale.
| 2.00 |
Kenneth Brassil
National Museums & Galleries of Wales |
Searching for Glyndwr |
| 2.40 |
Steven Clarke
Monmouth Archaeological Society |
Medieval Trelech |
| 3.20 | Tea | |
| 3.40 |
Dafydd Gwyn
Govannon Consultancy |
Rhiw’r Gwreiddyn Slate Works |
| 4.20 |
Nigel Page
Cambria Archaeology |
The Timber Trackway at Llangynfelyn |
FUTURE MEETINGS: The Spring Business Meeting and Symposium 2005 will be held in Bangor, Gwynedd on Saturday 19th March 2005.
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