Dinas Powys in Context: Settlement and Society in Post-Roman Wales (original) (raw)
Related papers
A new chronology for the Welsh hillfort of Dinas Powys
Antiquity, 2023
Excavated by Leslie Alcock in the 1950s, the inland promontory fort of Dinas Powys is widely cited as a type site for elite settlements of post-Roman western Britain. Alcock's interpretation and dating of the main defences as a Norman-period castle were effectively disproven in the 1990s, but the excavator's original chronology continues to be cited. Here, the authors present a revised chronology, integrating new radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic analysis to re-evaluate the history of occupation. The new phasing redates the main defences to the early medieval period, which aligns with the site's notable early medieval assemblage. The findings contribute to understanding of post-Roman western Britain and the (re)occupation of late antique hilltop sites more generally.
Archaeology in Wales, 2013, 52, 140-141
Dinas Powys hillfort (ST1483072245) is the richest, best preserved, and most fully excavated early medieval secular settlement in Wales. The 'inland promontory fort' lies on the northern tip of a carboniferous limestone 'whale-back ridge' between the valley of the river Cadoxton and a narrow gorge known as the Cwm George in the eastern Vale of Glamorgan, 5km west of Cardiff (see ). The site was extensively excavated in the late 1950s by Lesley Alcock who recovered a substantial assemblage of material culture including metalworking debris, large quantities of animal bone, fine metalwork including pieces of British/Irish and Anglo-Saxon manufacture, worked bone/antler, iron tools including knives and punches, and an important assemblage of pottery and glass vessels imported from Gaul and the eastern Mediterranean between the late-fifth and seventh centuries AD (Alcock 1963). The subsequent publication became a seminal work of early medieval archaeology and Dinas Powys is often quoted as the classic type site of early medieval western Britain. There have been considerable developments within the field of early medieval archaeology in the 55 years since Dinas Powys was excavated, but the site remains unmatched in Wales and offers unique insights into the socio-political and economic conditions of early medieval western Britain. Nevertheless, major re-examination of the Dinas Powys finds assemblage and chronology , as well as a fuller understanding of the socio-political geography of early medieval south-east Wales arising from analysis of the Llandaff Charters (Davies 1978) and excavations at Llandough , has the potential to significantly transform our understanding of the site and its historic context (Seaman In Press). The 'Dinas Powys Revisited' project aims therefore to revisit Alcock's findings in the light of these developments and refine the context and chronology of the construction, occupation and abandonment of Dinas Powys.
Early medieval Wales: a framework for archaeological research
Archaeology, 2005
The aim of this paper is to provide an archaeological research framework for the early medieval period in Wales, which we would expect to be refined in the light of new work and fresh debates. The process for the archaeology of Wales as a whole was initiated in a conference held by IFA Wales/Cymru in 2001 (Briggs 2003), though this failed to include a paper on the early middle ages, the only period of Welsh archaeology not to be represented. Following this conference the four Welsh Archaeological Trusts were funded by Cadw to compile regional resource audits and from the data identified a research assessment was initiated. In autumn 2002 four regional seminars were held at which papers on the early medieval period were included (Bapty 2003; Edwards 2003; Lane 2003; Redknap 2003). These were followed up in May 2003 with a seminar hosted by the Early Medieval Wales Archaeology Research Group in association with the National Museum & Gallery Cardiff; the fruits of this discussion have been incorporated into this pan-Wales paper. A short paper (Bapty 2004) was included in a national seminar in September 2004 on the development of a research agenda and a research strategy for all periods of Welsh archaeology. However, it was thought that the problems of identifying the archaeology of the early medieval period in Wales and a research strategy for their possible solution merited more extensive consideration. SETTLEMENT ARCHAEOLOGY The settlement evidence for the early medieval centuries is poor throughout most of western and northern Britain. A few areas, in particular those with alkaline sand deposits such as the Hebrides or Orkney, have exceptional preservation but otherwise settlements, houses and artefacts are difficult to recognise and poorly understood. These problems affect substantial parts of upland England as well. After the relative
TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SETTLEMENT PATTERN IN SOUTHEAST WALES DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD
This paper (drafted in 2001 but never formally published) reports on the South East Wales Romano-British Lowland Settlement Survey, carried out by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust with grant aid from Cadw, between 1998 and 2001. Following a review of known Roman period sites in the former counties of Glamorgan and Gwent, an area of some 15 square km was selected for further study by means of fieldwalking supplemented by limited geophysical survey and trial excavation. The results provide an insight into settlement patterns, which are likely to be representative of a wider area.
CIFA Wales/Cymru, 2023
Early medieval archaeology in Wales is particularly challenging. There is little diagnostic material culture and comparatively few sites have been identified and excavated. Nevertheless, the period since the last review has witnessed significant advances and knowledge. The publication of Professor Nancy Edwards' monograph on Life in Early Medieval Wales (2023, Oxford University Press) heralds a major watershed, to which readers are referred for a comprehensive and detailed overview of the current state of knowledge. This revision of the Research Framework offers an opportunity to re-evaluate its content, structure and scope. The fundamental issues that were set out in the three earlier versions of this Research Framework are still relevant. Thus, key research priorities remain: the identification and investigation of settlements, cemeteries, and ecclesiastical sites; improvement of chronological frameworks; analysis of artefacts, ecofacts, paleoenvironmental and osteological data; the further of understanding of power and authority; and also of the development of understanding of frontiers and dyke systems. The failure to significantly address and move on from these priorities demonstrates the severity of the challenges to the realisation of research potential for the early medieval period in Wales. In the light of this and the fact that Professor Edwards' monograph offers an up-to-date synthesis of the archaeology of the period, this revision of the Framework aims to set priorities that will facilitate and maximise opportunities for research, funding, and collaboration. This document considers nine overarching themes: working better together; maximising fieldwork potential; improving resources; sharing knowledge; improving and refining chronology; landscape perspectives on sites, monuments, social and economic processes; artefact and ecofact/biofact analysis; burials; power and authority; and community and engagement. Recent publications (post 2016) are noted in a separate bibliography.
Excavations of the Ty’n-y-Coed earthworks 2011-14: the Dinas Powys ‘Southern Banks
Archaeologia Cambrensis , 2019
The Ty’n-y-Coed earthworks are better known to archaeologists and historians as the Southern Banks at Dinas Powys. These were briefly investigated by Geoff Wainwright in the late 1950s as part of Leslie Alcock’s exploration of the promontory fort known as Dinas Powys. The Southern Banks were central to Alcock’s interpretation of the main defences of the promontory as being a Norman period ringwork built by a native Welsh prince. This interpretation has been shown to be incorrect and the nature of the Southern Banks has become a significant issue for the understanding of Dinas Powys. As part of a reassessment of the Dinas Powys complex excavation and survey were undertaken on the Southern Banks, now named by Cadw and the RCAHMW as the Ty’n-y-Coed earthworks, between 2011 and 2014. Ty’n-y-Coed consists of two separate bank and ditch earthworks (Bank A and Bank B), which appear to be incomplete. The earthworks lie 140m south of the important early medieval promontory fort known as Dinas Powys and were previously trial trenched in the late 1950s. Limited evidence was recovered in the new excavations, but the fieldwork has added significantly to our understanding of the date and function of the earthworks, and their relationship with the adjacent promontory fort. Bank B is interpreted as a univallate L-shaped settlement enclosure occupied during the Late Iron Age and potentially into the early Romano-British period. Sherds of an almost complete Glastonbury Ware bowl were recovered from the primary fill of the ditch, and are likely to represent the deliberate deposition of a significant vessel. The evidence for the date and function of Bank A is considerably weaker, and interpretation more ambiguous. It is suggested that part of the monument appears to be early medieval in date and is tentatively interpreted as an unfinished settlement enclosure.
Defended Settlement in Early Medieval Wales, Problems of Presence, Absence and Interpretation
Fortified Settlements in Early Medieval Europe: Defended Communities of the 8th‐10th Centuries (eds. N. Christie and H. Herold), 2016.
The remains of defended settlements are a common feature of the Welsh landscape, but a remarkably small number can be attributed to the early medieval period. Indeed, despite several decades of concerted research less than twenty-five early medieval settlements, defended or otherwise, have been firmly identified, and few of these have been excavated and published to modern standards. We can be confident that the Welsh landscape was occupied and exploited between the fifth and eleventh centuries, but the identification of settlements, both defended and non-defended, has been greatly constrained by a lack of diagnostic material culture, particularly native pottery traditions. Pottery and glass imported from the Mediterranean and the Continent has aided in the identification of a small but significant number of settlements occupied between the fifth to seventh centuries, but we are heavily reliant upon scientific dating techniques and historical sources for the eighth to eleventh centuries, and thus far only a handful of sites have been attributed to this period. The lack of settlement evidence means that our knowledge of even basic issues, such as the location and layout of settlements and the form of houses is underdeveloped, and as such, our understanding of the early medieval period as a whole is weak when compared to many of the regions discussed in this volume. Addressing these problems continues to be a major research priority, but there has been some important developments in the years since the topic was last reviewed, and some interesting patterns are starting to emerge. In this chapter I will examine the evidence for defended settlement in early medieval Wales and explore some interpretive models for their presence and absence.
South Wales in the Iron Age and Roman Periods
MPhil Thesis, 2012
The aim of this thesis is to examine archaeological and documentary evidence of South Wales during the Iron Age and Roman periods with the intention of better understanding the settlement, economic and socio-political structures of the Silures before and during the Roman occupation of the area. In the first part, a study of Iron Age defended enclosures with regard to shape, defences, settlement location and internal size indicates an overall settlement structure of multiple independent groupings situated throughout South Wales. Through the consideration of the roles of hillforts within economic, social and political interaction, these individual groupings most likely indicate a hierarchical system of decentralised clans acting independently of one another, but under a single, shared cultural identity. The second part of this thesis analyses the impact of the Roman conquest of South Wales and the extent to which the native population was transformed by the Roman military and civil establishments. The Roman military strategy of conquest and control over South Wales proves further the decentralised political structure of the Silures in the Iron Age. Roman and Romano-British settlement patterns indicate a changing lifestyle influenced by the Roman occupation with a native population choosing at what degree to embrace the new culture. Evidence suggests this change was immediate providing a new Roman way of life yet keeping much from the previous Iron Age existence.