A Research Framework for the Archaeology of Wales
Southwest Wales – Early Medieval
22/12/2003
The
early medieval period in western Britain is probably viewed by its specialists
as one of the least well known in terms of its archaeological knowledge. Its research agenda is partly driven by
being a ‘historical period’ and historical questions frame our knowledge or
lack of it. Thus for southwest Wales
the end of Roman imperial control, the emergence of distinct regional kingdoms,
the likelihood of Irish settlement, the emergence and ideological triumph of
Christianity, the Viking impact, Anglo-Norman conquest and the Welsh response,
provide datable, or otherwise, signposts to apparently major changes in the
area. The impact these had on
population, settlement and landuse are for archaeology to answer.
After
the relative richness and visibility of the Roman period the rarity of
distinctive artefacts and settlements poses immediate problems. An understanding of late 4th
century sites would provide a starting point.
The possible continued use of selected Roman artefacts has been flagged
up as an explanation of the scarcity of
5th century sites. Many
specialists see little reason to expect mass abandonment of Roman period sites
though the possibility that imperial withdrawal including the army and other
specialists caused significant social and economic upheaval should not be
underestimated. Analogy with Roman
Dumnonia – in particular the abandonment of small defended enclosures from
c200AD- might suggest significant changes in the middle Roman period with
subsequent continuity into the post-Roman period.
It
is difficult to talk in terms of strengths regarding settlement
information. The number of dated sites
is tiny. There is no convincing
evidence for the continued use of urban or military sites. Three defended sites have significant
evidence of occupation. Carew may have
an early medieval phase as a major multivallate promontory fort. Coygan was almost certainly a key early medieval
site prior to its destruction. Brawdy
has an important sequence from the Iron Age to the early Medieval period but as
yet without published detail.
A
number of Iron Age/Romano-British sites have produced slight evidence of later
activity usually dated by radiocarbon – Woodside, Dan-y-Coed, Drim, Penycoed,
Great Castle Head - but with little
structural or associated material culture.
Other
settlements are known from Longbury Bank with its quite rich 5th-7th
century assemblage but sparse structural evidence and Gateholm with its sparse
artefacts and surface building complex.
The
difficulty of identifying sites and site types is clear in the tiny number of
known sites. Within the 600 plus
hillfort/defended enclosure sites listed in the Later Bronze Age/ Iron Age
section of the SMR there must undoubtedly be early medieval sites.
The
difficulty in finding sites is inevitably a key problem. Chance discovery and rescue archaeology have
had limited impact on this problem in the last 30 years. Discoveries elsewhere would suggest that
late Roman sites in areas of reasonable soils could be productive. The study of the late phases of Romano-British
rural sites clearly is important for 5th and 6th century
settlement. Some targeting of the
inland promontory forts, which may be comparable to Dinas Powys, would allow us
to test the ‘Brawdy’ hypothesis which suggested a distinct group of early
medieval inland multivallate promontory forts.
Sites which are likely to have preserved upper levels are obviously of
key importance since ploughed-out or damaged sites are unlikely to give us
evidence of fugitive early medieval structures and sparse finds. Further investigation of known sites such as
Carew and Gateholm, in spite of logistical difficulties, could refine our
models for site identification. The
identification of Anglo-Norman and Welsh residence and castle sites may provide
a chronological fix at the other end of the period. The absence of Viking Age sites remains striking.
The
development of the early Christian church is one of the most important
historical events of the early medieval centuries. Unfortunately precise historical information is very limited and
the archaeology, with one exception of the ECMs, is sparse.
The
most significant strength in this area is the Cadw-funded all Wales
ecclesiastical sites project being conducted locally by Cambria
Archaeology. This attempt to identify
and evaluate all ecclesiastical sites of pre-Norman origin will provide us with
reliable database of known and possible sites. From initial desktop work some
321 sites have been identified of which 30 have demonstrable pre-Conquest
origins, some 5 supported by radiocarbon dates. The importance of St Davids but also sites such as Llanbadarn
Fawr or Caldey can be advanced on historical grounds but have little bar
sculpture to confirm datable archaeological activity. The identification of possible vallum enclosures including large
external earthworks has been an important development. Aerial photography of both large and small
ecclesiastical sites has being particularly valuable in this context.
The
absence of excavated pre-conquest churches is a clear problem. Continued use of church sites and the
absence of the opportunities and the funding for the investigations of major
churches and minor redundant churches hinder any serious advances in this
field.
The
Cadw funded survey gives us the chance to identify the most important sites and
those that may be threatened. This is
clearly an important opportunity to use targeted and significant resources to
answer rescue and research problems.
The
one aspect of ‘ecclesiastical’ and indeed all southwest Welsh early medieval
archaeology which can be regarded as a significant strength is the unique
collection of inscribed stone monuments.
The
SMR lists 185 monuments with inscriptions.
Most of these can be attributed to the 5th – 7th
century period where they provide an unrivalled source of epigraphic,
linguistic, social and religious information, which is of international
significance. Since the initial
Nash-Williams catalogue of the 1950s significant additional discoveries have
been made. A new corpus is in
preparation with the cooperative work of scholars in the Bangor, Aberystwyth,
the National Museum of Wales and the RCAHMW with funding support of the Board
of Celtic Studies. The combination of
linguistic analysis by Patrick Sims-Williams, epigraphic work by scholars
outside Wales and Nancy Edwards’ monument and style analysis should come to
fruition soon and provide us with an enormous amount of historically
significant information.
The
key weakness of this field in archaeological terms is in investigation of the
actual sites of the monuments and the process of setting them in their original
landscape and function. There are also serious concerns about the preservation
of these monuments while engaging with local interests about in situ location.
The
new corpus will provide a chance to identify likely in situ monuments and thus to target excavation and analysis at
such sites. Interpretation of the date
and meaning of the monument eg whether they are all Christian, do they indicate
burials, what is the foreign input to their development, what numerological
patterns are identifiable on them, what is the origin of their scripts, can all
contribute to the wider study of the ecclesiastical and social landscape.
A
number of important cemetery sites have been excavated in the area. The Plas Gogerddan site and Caer, Bayvil
provide contrasting pictures of ‘undeveloped ‘ cemeteries. Other
cemeteries with cists and dug graves are known and in some cases dated
but late dates for cists eg Cilgerran suggest caution in the attribution of all
cist cemeteries to the early medieval period.
There
have been no large-scale excavations to match work such as that at Llandough,
Glamorgan or Cannington, Somerset.
The
excavation of some substantial cemeteries with preserved skeletal remains would
be desirable. Further dating of
undeveloped cemeteries and indeed those that did acquire churches would be
desirable.
Apart
from the assemblages from sites with imported pottery our knowledge of
artefacts is sparse. A few stray
brooches and pins are known and as yet few significant discoveries from metal
detecting have been reported. The
imports of Mediterranean and continental pottery provide an external and now
fairly reliable chronology for the sites where they occur and potentially
provide the evidence to date associated material culture.
Scarcity
of finds remains a problem. The absence
of local ceramics precludes most simple ways of pre-excavation site dating.
The
targeting of known sites with imported material such as Caldey has been shown
to work at Longbury Bank. The careful
monitoring of metal detecting finds has also been effective at Llanbedrgoch,
Anglesey.
A
surprising number of radiocarbon dates have provided early medieval dates on
industrial sites being explored as part of the research agendas of other
period. Copa Hill and Pen Cerrig y Mwyn
seem to have early medieval activity while others such as Dolaucothi may merely
be dating soil horizons of abandonment.
None
of the horizons with early medieval indications have been explored extensively.
The
exploration of early medieval horizons would be desirable.
The
study of the environment has been restricted by the limited site work and
perhaps previous environmental focussing on prehistory at the expense of later
periods.
The
move to multi-period and landscape work generally way from site focussed
research should benefit this period.
As
yet limited outcomes have been achieved.
It
is difficult to talk about priorities given how limited our knowledge base
is. The Ecclesiastical survey and ECM
publication work will clearly provide us with a significant database from which
target sites should emerge and it is to be hoped that funding will follow to
allow intelligent use of the survey work.
Settlements
remain a problem. Publication of the
excavated sites would help in site selection but bar exploration from the known
chronological fixed points of the Roman period and less confidently the
Anglo-Norman period chance is likely to remain a key factor in discovery. The inland promontory forts remain the only
group where a coherent early medieval dating has been advanced and the testing
of this hypothesis, may be regarded as the best option at present. Metal detecting has clearly been important
elsewhere and the maintenance of the portable finds scheme may be crucial in
the identification of new sites in South West Wales, particularly for
settlements without earthwork enclosures.
Paper
prepared by Alan Lane
Due
to the time constraints on the preparation of this outline consultation on its
content has been limited. But my thanks
are due to the staff of the SMR at Cambria Archaeology, to Heather and Terry
James, Ken Dark, Ken Murphy and Neil Ludlow.
Misunderstanding and errors are my responsibility.
This
document’s copyright is held by contributors and sponsors of the Research
Framework for the Archaeology of Wales.