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In 1992 survey and excavation was carried out at three sites of early mine workings previously identified during fieldwalking on the basis of their
association with primitive cobble stone tools.
At one of the sites a small opencut working and associated spoil mound (Site A) on a copper vein had been partly inundated by peat along the
earlier shoreline of the ‘island’ (or isthmus) previously surrounded by Borth Bog. A radiocarbon date of between 1745 and 1645 yrs cal BC was obtained from charcoal associated with fireset mine waste and stone
tools, whilst a small branch resting on top of the now waterlogged mine spoil provided an Early Medieval date for the base of the overlying peat (Timberlake 1995)
These sites at Llancynfelin are interesting in that they show some evidence for systematic prospecting (‘pitting’) along the back of a vein which had
been followed across the summit of the ‘island’ (sites A, B & C)
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