Studia Celtica 30

Intertidal exposures at Rumney Great Wharf on the shores of Wentlooge Level reveal evidence for three Final Bronze Age occupations embedded in the estuarine silts and peats of the Wentlooge Formation. Rumney Great Wharf 1, situated on the banks of a contemporaneous tidal creek, is a substantial deposit of occupation debris accompanied by some evidence for a shelter. Rumney Great Wharf 2 is a hearth and a spread of pottery and fire-fractured stones; also present is a small, incised ball of fired clay, possibly intended as a sling-shot. Rumney Great Wharf 3 is a small roundhouse associated with a variety of occupation debris. Near Rumney Great Wharf 2 is a fourth site, a silt-filled palaeochannel into which pottery seems to have been discarded. These four occurrences bring to a total of twelve the number of Bronze Age sites described from the Wentlooge Level and the Caldicot Level (Gwent Levels). Planks from sewn boats occur at two of these sites, pointing to the importance of water transport in the coastal wetland landscape dissected by tidal creeks.

The author explores some features of pagan Celtic material culture which, she argues, stand out as unifying elements and which serve to support the notion of a pan-Celtic tradition, even allowing for a large measure of regional diversity. The article discusses the three strands of evidence (archaeology, written sources and linguistic material) forming the basis for claiming the existence of the ancient Celts, before going on to deal principally with artistic and religious expression, often in combination.

The paper aims to analyse and interpret the symbolic relationship of the chase scenes found on a group of early medieval (AD 800--1200) Pictish monuments to the `David rending the lion's jaws' image, arguing that the chase motif in association with this image appears to reinforce the high status of the huntsmen portrayed.

Dendrochronological investigation of buildings in north Wales has revealed particular problems associated with the attempt to date buildings in this part of Britain. Many of these difficulties arise from the geography, topography and climate and their influence on the growth patterns of oaks felled for timber to construct buildings in the locality. It is suggested that a local master tree-ring chronology is needed, as this would enhance the possibility of securely dating historic buildings in the region. It is further suggested that an approach to this could come through working from existing Irish chronologies to date buildings near the coast, and that these should be buildings that seem likely to have been constructed from timbers cut from trees that grew in the same vicinity. The author argues that it may then be possible to work on buildings further inland where the problems caused by local climatic variation on tree-ring patterns of locally grown timbers used in construction become more marked. The paper goes on to discuss a number of buildings that have already been sampled and dated in this connection, sequences from six of which have produced an independent and securely dated sequence. However the author suggests that the formation of a master chronology must await the sampling and analysis of further buildings. Includes

Description and discussion of a Neolithic axe recovered from the sea in the Menai Straits, including consideration of the sedimentology of the area and of similar axes found in the coastal area of northern Wales.

Description and discussion of two perforated antler artefacts, both found in the intertidal zone, one at Borth, Ceredigion, during the 1970s and the other at Mochras (Shell Island), Harlech, in 1987, and both radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age.