Title: |
The Breiddin hillfort: |
Subtitle: |
a later prehistoric settlement in the Welsh Marches |
Series: |
Council for British Archaeology Research Reports
|
Volume: |
76
|
Number of Pages: |
233 |
Downloads: |
|
Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
|
DOI |
|
Publication Type: |
Monograph (in Series)
|
Abstract: |
Rescue excavation between 1969 and 1976, although covering only a small part of the site, showed that small-scale or sporadic activity in the Mesolithic and Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age was followed by substantial occupation towards the end of the Bronze Age, with a timber-framed rampart yielding radiocarbon dates centred around 800 bc. After a period during which the hilltop probably used mainly for grazing, the rampart was rebuilt on a larger scale, probably in or about the third century bc; an outer line of defence may date from about this period but a third rampart seems likely to be later. There was nothing to demonstrate whether the Iron Age occupation persisted into the first century AD, and early Roman material was absent. Pottery and coins showed that occupation, perhaps of an essentially agricultural nature, began again in the second or early third century AD and continued until the end of the Roman period or later. The excavations produced an important collection of Late Bronze Age pottery and metalwork, although few structures within the hillfort could be attributed to this period. By contrast, the Iron Age occupation left evidence of numerous circular and rectangular buildings but there were relatively few associated finds. The hilltop's environmental history from the Late-Glacial to the beginning of the Iron Age occupation is described through the study of waterlogged deposits from a pond within the hillfort; also recovered from the pond is an important collection of wooden artefacts, the majority of the dating to about 300 bc. |
Author: |
Chris R Musson
A G Smith
William J Britnell
|
Editor: |
Chris R Musson
|
Publisher: |
Council for British Archaeology
|
Year of Publication: |
1991
|
ISBN: |
1-872414-12-5 |
Subjects / Periods: |
LATE BRONZE AGE
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
MESOLITHIC
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
EARLY BRONZE AGE
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
LATE NEOLITHIC
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
IRON AGE
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
ROMAN
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
First Century Ad (Auto Detected Temporal) |
BRONZE AGE
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
Third Century Bc (Auto Detected Temporal) |
Early Third Century Ad (Auto Detected Temporal) |
|
Source: |
BIAB
(The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
|
Relations: |
|
Created Date: |
21 Apr 2005 |