The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd

Community Archaeology Training Placements

2012-01-04T08:30:00.007Z

Do you want to develop your career in archaeology?

Are you interested in working directly with a wide range of communities?

The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is offering 10 twelve month paid bursary places with different host organisations across the UK, aimed at training individuals who already have a good working knowledge of archaeological theory and practice in the skills needed to run and support effective community archaeology projects.

The bursaries are funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the Future programme, with support from English Heritage, Cadw and Historic Scotland.

Placements will start in April 2012 and successful candidates will receive a salaried bursary of approx £16,450 (see individual job descriptions for further details).

There are five Welsh host organisations and locations:

Cadw (Cardiff)
Dyfed Archaeological Trust (Llandeilo)
Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (Swansea)
Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (Bangor)
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (Aberystwyth)

For full details of the posts please visit our website where you can download application packs for each post (includes full job descriptions, person specifications and interview dates)

www.britarch.ac.uk/community/bursaries/2012,

Application closing date: Friday 20^th January

LLEOLIADAU HYFFORDDI ARCHAEOLEG GYMUNEDOL

Mae Cyngor Archaeoleg Prydain (CBA) yn hysbysebu deg bwrsari hyfforddi am 12 mis mewn archaeoleg gymunedol, gyda chymorth y Loteri Genedlaethol drwy Gronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri, a thrwy gymorth ychwanegol yng Nghymru gan Cadw ac Ymddiriedolaethau Archaeolegol Cymru.

Mae pump sefydliad a lleoliad yn cynnig lle yng Nghymru:

Cadw (Caerdydd)
Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Dyfed (Llandeilo)
Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Morgannwg-Gwent (Abertawe)
Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Gwynedd (Bangor)
Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru (Aberystwyth)

Bwrsari: Gweler disgrifiadau’r swyddi unigol

I gael manylion llawn y swyddi hyn, ewch i www.britarch.ac.uk/community/bursaries/2012, neu edrychwch ar wefannau’r sefydliadau sy’n cynnig y lleoedd.

Y dyddiad cau i wneud cais: dydd Gwener 20 Ionawr

Dyddiadau’r cyfweliadau: Gweler y pecynnau ymgeisio unigol.

GGAT at the Senedd Heritage Lottery Fund Showcase

2011-12-12T11:24:00.004Z

On Wednesday 7th December GGAT attended the Senedd as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund Wales projects representation. The evening was a showcase for all the recent projects that have been funded by the HLF. GGAT formed part of the HLF Skills for the Future stand with their current Community Archaeology Training Placement holder Natasha Scullion and a collection of posters specially designed to promote some of the community projects that have been undertaken so far, in particular the project running at present on the Clyne Valley.

All four Welsh CATP bursary holders were in attendance representing GGAT, Dyfed Archaeological Trust, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust and Cadw. They explained their roles and projects to the other attendees including Dame Jenny Abramsky chair of the UK HLF who was keen to hear about what the placements had achieved so far.

The evening was a great success with the stand having constant visitors, all interested in what the CATP bursaries were all about and what projects they were working on.

Xmas Party

2011-12-02T11:01:00.001Z

GGAT are off for our Christmas knees up! Seasons greetings to all.

Introduction to Graveyard Investigation

2011-11-25T10:48:00.002Z

Over the last few days GGAT has been involved with running a introduction to graveyard recording course focusing on the different eras of design and architecture of monuments and headstones and the individual significance of various iconographies that are used.

Approached by Adventa GGAT put together and delivered 5 days of 1-day introduction training courses, originally only 3 had been booked however, due to popular demand it was extended to a 5 day run!

The first half of the day comprising of a presentation and discussion followed by explanation of the recording forms and processes. After lunch we then headed out for some ‘hands on’ practice heading to the local churchyards and cemeteries to see the evidence of what had been discussed and the aspects of recording and research that can be done.

Graveyards are real snapshots of community life and if viewed closely enough can reveal details and stories that might never otherwise come to life however they are a finite resource, without active attempts to record the information details of family history will be lost that may not be recorded anywhere else.

The days were hugely successful with most people coming away with new knowledge, keen to put in to practice what they had learned about, the general consensus being ‘I’ll never look at a graveyard the same way again!’

GGAT return to the Roman fort at Neath

2011-11-25T10:20:00.005Z

Just when we thought it was all over GGAT have had to return to the Roman fort at Neath in order to extend the excavated area. It was discovered that the size of the building footprint as originally calculated proved inadequate for the new teaching block at Dwr-y-felin school. Although we only excavated a narrow strip around last year’s area, it provided us with lots of new information.

On one side of the new building, we have been able to see that the original clay structure of the rampart had been removed over the stone toe at the front to be replaced by a timber revetment made from two-inch planks. At the back of the rampart, the new revetment was formed from blocks of turf that had been stepped back so that the rampart was widest at the base. The new part of the via sagularis to be revealed had had pits dug into it. On the other side of the new building the new work revealed a T-junction, where the via sagularis, which here had drains on both sides, was joined by another road, which had the beam slots for timber buildings on either side. These probably represent the barrack blocks of the earliest fort.

Excavations at the former Ynysfach Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales

2011-10-18T10:06:00.006+01:00

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd are working closely with Merthyr Tydfil College, Davis Langdon and Interserve Construction to investigate elements of the former Ynysfach Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, before the construction of a new College building. So far we have discovered the southern engine and boiler houses, a small section of walling belonging to the southern casting house, the eastern wall of the refinery building and remains of five of the refinery furnaces themselves.

Although a foundry is thought to have existed on the site prior to the 19th century, the ironworks that we see preserved in the furnace banks today were built in 1801 for Richard Crawshay by Thomas Jones of Merthyr Tydfil, to the designs of the celebrated local engineer Watkin George. Initially, the ironworks had two furnaces, which were large for the period (53ft in height) and were only the second furnaces in Merthyr Tydfil to have steam-powered air blast capability. As a consequence output was more regular, producing between 65 and 70 tons a week compared to the water-wheel powered ironworks at Cyfarthfa, which could only produce 45 to 62 tons of iron per week.

Ynysfach was expanded in the 1830s with the construction of two more blast furnaces, a new, southern, engine house and reconstruction of the earlier, northern, engine house; much of the refinery building being excavated probably dates to this period.

Ynysfach Ironworks closed during the strike of 1873 and by 1884, when Cyfarthfa was converted to a steel production plant, the Ynysfach furnaces were reconditioned and held in reserve in case of a renewed demand for iron. Ynysfach, however, does not appear to have resumed production after this date, and by 1905 was in a derelict condition. The southern engine house was demolished sometime after 1905 and one chimney stack (belonging to the northern boiler house) was demolished in December 1949 because it was in danger of collapsing.

Currently, the team of archaeologists are uncovering the refinery building and they are exposing exciting elements of the early industrial iron process. Tim Young (Geoarch), an expert in industrial furnaces and smelting, has indicated that the remains discovered so far are starting to illuminate the “Welsh process of converting grey cast iron into wrought iron, first developed in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1790s”. It would appear that the Ynysfach Ironworks were purpose built by Richard Crawshay for this new process.

Rowena Hart, our site director, give a talk to Roy Noble about the excavations on BBC RadioWales on Friday 14th October. Listen to the broadcast

Special thanks go to Alan George (Old Merthyr Tydfil) for kindly providing some of the images.

GGAT Outreach Officer receives award

2011-09-28T10:52:00.003+01:00

GGAT Outreach Officer, Paul Huckfield attended a glamorous awards ceremony at Rhoose Flying Club last week, hosted by the Pastfinders Historical Society from Barry. Paul was nominated for two awards, Best Talk and Best Walk, and on the night walked away with the award for the Best Walk of 2011. Congratulations Paul!

Get involved with the archaeology of the Aberdulais Falls Tinplate Works.

2011-09-15T09:28:00.006+01:00

Starting tomorrow on Friday 16^th September GGAT will be supporting a project being run by The National Trust at Aberdulais Falls Tinplate Works.

This project aims to identify the original floor surfaces of a number of early 19th century buildings on site that are associated with the tinning works. From this we can tell their current state of preservation and clear the buildings ready for important repair and consolidation work to take place that will improve the site overall.

This is fantastic opportunity to get involved with the archaeology of Aberdulais and help to benefit the site in the long term.

The project is running on Fridays and weekends till the end of the month with the dates as follows;

Week 1: 16^th, 17^th and 18th September

Week 2: 23^rd 24^th and 25 September

Week 3: 30^th September & 1^st, 2^nd October

Each day begins at 10:15am for a 10:30am start finishing at 4pm

If you would like to volunteer your time to help out with the project you can get in touch with natasha@ggat.org.uk or Claudine.Gerrard@nationaltrust.org.uk with the dates you are available.

Hope to see you there!

Betws Summer Community Event

2011-09-14T15:04:00.004+01:00

Last Saturday GGAT headed to Betws Primary School to take part in their community day events. Despite the wind and driving rain there was a good turn out with plenty of people coming over, taking a look at our Archwilio display, having at go at being a real archaeologist and asking lots of questions!

There was an excavation to undertake followed by careful recording of what had been discovered using real field equipment and techniques. Our archaeologists on the day rose to the challenge splendidly, excavating and recording a Roman skeleton and his grave goods.

A very successful day all round!

Exploring your Heritage – A community archaeological toolkit

2011-09-14T11:01:00.004+01:00

Starting on the 29^th September GGAT will be running a free community workshop at the Blaenavon World Heritage Centre.

The course runs over 10 weeks and covers such topics as:

What’s in my area? Learn about the rich and diverse archaeological resource in the Blaenavon World Heritage area.

Landscape Detective Understand the evolution of landscape, find out how maps are used in archaeology and historic landscape studies. Have a go at interpretation of cartographic information plotting information onto base maps and storing results on a electronic database.

Community Archaeology Show and Tell Create new historical records through shared memories, personal histories, old photographs and sketches.

The Way of the Archaeologist Learn basic archaeological recording methods through a practical hands-on workshop led by a recording specialist. Produce a visual record of an archaeological site, comprised of a brief written statement, photographs along-side measured drawings.

For more information or to enrol please contact the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust on 01792 655208 or enquiries@ggat.org.uk

LEARNING LANDSCAPES OPEN DAY – New courses available in the World Heritage Site

2011-09-09T11:46:00.006+01:00

Ever wanted to learn more about the history, archaeology or wildlife of the Blaenavon area then this is your chance!

Come along to Blaenavon World Heritage Centre on Saturday 10^th September to find out more about the brand new courses on offer in the World Heritage Site.

Tutors will be available from 1pm to 5pm to discuss the exciting new learning opportunities available. There will also be a series of guided walks, talks and workshops throughout the afternoon.

This open day marks the launch of the new courses, which will start later this month. The courses have been developed by the Centre for Community and Lifelong Learning at University of Wales Newport and the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.

The courses form part of the Forgotten Landscapes Project and are possible thanks to the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. Forgotten Landscapes Education Officer, Ceri Cadwallader said ‘Blaenavon Industrial Landscape has been recognised for its outstanding universal value through designation as a World Heritage Site. We are delighted to be able to offer these courses, and hope they will allow more people to see just how rich this landscape is, both in history and wildlife.’

All Open Day activities free with no booking necessary. For more information please go to www.visitblaenavon.co.uk or contact University of Wales Newport on 01633 432432 or uicenquiries@newport.ac.uk

Courses

Changing Landscape

The story of the landscape and wildlife of the World Heritage Site, from degradation to conservation. Discover how the relationship between man and the environment has changed with time and find out how this landscape is being managed today. Course starts Tuesday 27th Sept 7–9 pm

People’s History

Are you interested in the people’s history of Blaenavon? Do you want to know how to make sense of the ‘stuff’ that has been left behind? Join this hands-on course and learn how to investigate local history through the objects that were once used in the everyday life of past residents. Course starts Wednesday 28th Sept 7–9 pm.

Exploring your Heritage – A Community Archaeological Toolkit

This course is set out to encourage and promote the appreciation of the rich and diverse heritage of Blaenavon World Heritage Landscape and to provide a toolkit of skills so that members can take ownership of their local heritage and historic environment and have a hand in maintaining historic sites for present and future generations. Learn how to investigate the archaeology of sites, create new historical records, look after and take responsibility for your local heritage, present your findings to your community. Course Starts Thursday 29th Sept 7 – 9pm.

GGAT help to promote events for 'Open Church Day 2011'

2011-09-08T15:46:00.005+01:00

Open Church Day this year is Saturday 17th September, and you can find details of participating churches in the downloadable leaflets on our website. However, please look carefully at details of opening times for each church, as some churches have found it more convenient to open on a different day of the month. The leaflets include those churches that advertised their participation by the end of August, but you may find some late entries at the Churches Tourism Network Wales website and the Civic Trust for Wales site.

GGAT at Betws Summer Community Event

2011-09-08T11:36:00.006+01:00

This Saturday 10th September GGAT will be attending the Betws Summer Community Event being held at Bettws Primary School, Betws, Bridgend from 11am-4pm. Come along and have a go at being an Archaeologist with our mystery excavation or find out more about your own local archaeology with our Archwilio demonstration!

Want to work for GGAT? – Project Archaeologists (field staff) required

2011-08-17T10:14:00.001+01:00

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd are currently looking to appoint field staff for short-term contracts for excavations in South Wales with immediate effect.

Four/five week contracts available with immediate start, possible extensions to contract thereafter.

Requirements:

Degree in archaeology (or related subject) or equivalent practical experience; Membership of the Institute for Archaeologists (Practitioner or affiliate) is an advantage. Experience in commercial archaeology also an advantage.

Applications:

There is no formal application route, interested persons should apply in writing (emails are fine) to the Trust with a letter of application and CV.

Contact

Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd
Heathfield House,
Heathfield,
Swansea.
SA1 6EL
Tel: 01792 655208
Fax: 01792474469
Email: enquiries@ggat.org.uk

Exciting New Bronze Age discovery found on Gelligaer Common, South Wales

2011-08-16T23:40:00.003+01:00

Gelligaer Common, on the border between Caerphilly and Merthyr Tydfil, has long been known for its Bronze Age burial cairns, and the remains of the medieval longhouses excavated by Lady (Aileen) Fox in the 1930s. Archaeologists have been studying it for so long that you would think that we have already discovered everything there, but you would be mistaken. At the begining of August archaeologists from the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust led a guided walk for Groundwork Caerphilly to look at some of the sites on the common, and they walked between two of them, Janine Reed of Groundwork spotted a prehistoric cupmark on a slab of sandstone.

Cupmarks are motifs typical of prehistoric rock art in Britain. Most British rock art originated in the Neolithic period, but it obviously still had a meaning in the Early Bronze Age, the date of the cairns on Gelligaer Common. The new find joins just three others known in Glamorgan - a cupmarked stone known as Maen Cattwg just outside Gelligaer village, another found in the Simondston Cairn excavated near Coity, Bridgend, by Sir Cyril Fox just before the Second World War, and one found a few years ago in a pile of boulders on Mynydd Marchywel north of Neath by GGAT Project Officer Jo Higgins. A fourth, in Bargoed, was described by Lady Fox in a letter written in 1949, but has now disappeared.

Janine was able to recognise the cupmark as she’d recently had Maen Cattwg pointed out to her. ´I was absolutely amazed and thought all my birthdays and Christmases had come at once!´ she said. ´I’m still astounded at our chance, but amazing discovery!´

Dr George Nash of the University of Bristol, a specialist on prehistoric rock art, comments:

´The cup is a fairly common motif used in a wider rock art tradition within Western Britain. Single cupmarks usually appear by themselves, (multiple cupmarks are rarish!). The stone on which it is gouged may be a fallen monolith - possibly a standing stone - again not uncommon within this part of the world (north-western Europe). It would be interesting to see if there are others nearby. I say this as I believe cupmarks and standing stones are very much part of a set of monuments associated with death, burial and other rituals. Both would have acted as markers within a landscape that had a spiritual meaning for the people who used it. I think that prehistoric communities would have processed through the landscape, walking from one monument to another on a carefully defined route and carrying out a set of carefully designed actions, probably at specific times of the day or points in the yearly cycle.´

He added that he could confirm that it is ancient from the way that it had weathered since it was made.

Coastal archaeology and community engagement

2011-07-29T16:21:00.004+01:00

As part of the ‘day of archaeology’ I’ve written a blog post describing a day in the life of an archaeologist, and how I’ve spent my day working on the Arfordir project. The post is below, but the day of archaeology blog is definitely worth a look…

I’m Ellie, a project archaeologist with GGAT, and I’m currently working on a community project, Arfordir (‘coastline’ in Welsh) which involves working with volunteers to monitor and record the vulerable archaeology in the coastal zone of south east Wales. The study area encompasses the coast of the Gower peninsula and Swansea Bay as far as the mouth of the River Ogmore. This includes fascinating archaeology of all periods, much of which is at risk from coastal erosion, sea level change, visitor damage and other threats.

A large part of the workload of the project involves general admin, I spend the first part of every morning checking and answering emails from volunteers working on the project and liasing with colleagues. The project study area has just been expanded to the east and a lot of new volunteers have been recruited in this area, so I’ve been organising a meeting and training session, and inviting interested people to come along.

We’ve also just started working in partnership with a similar project in Swansea, and I’ve been creating a leaflet advertising the opportunity to volunteer and get involved in this. I’m also planning a series of guided walks around the study area so I can show volunteers some interesting archaeological sites and they can get some experience in recording and surveying. In preparation for this, I’ve been creating maps showing the sites in the area and lists detailing what they are. Finally, I plan to spend the rest of the afternoon writing a proposal for a spin-off from the Arfordir project, a small excavation on the foreshore of Swansea, investigating a series of wooden posts embedded in the Brynmill peat shelf. In the past features in this peat shelf have been found to be of prehistoric date, so these wooden posts could be thousands of years old. I’m hoping to spend part of the autumn excavating them with a team of volunteers so that we can find out.

A Day in Life of a CATP at GGAT!

2011-07-29T16:09:00.002+01:00

Hello! I’m Natasha, I’m the CBA’s CATP (Community Archaeology Training Placement) person in post with the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust. I’ve been with the Trust for just over 3 months now and have loved every minute!

I’m based in the curatorial divison and my working day never seems to be the same from one week to the next! Over the past few weeks I have been organising our annual event’s day as part of the British Festival of Archaeology, so it’s been very hands on planning logistics, locating resources and packing vans! Not to mention the running of several activities on the day-the children who had a go at our Wattle and Daub demonstration liked it so much they covered the Wattle frame, themselves and me with the clayey, compostey, hay-filled mixture! Nothing like a bit of messy fun to encourage people to learn something new! The day at Swansea museum and the following week at Neath abbey were a great sucess and gave me some valuble events organisation experience.

We’ve got more projects in the pipeline looking to get underway soon but right now, this week is a little more sedate for a change as I’ve been analysing all our feedback from the events and putting it into a report so we can assess what went well and what to build on for future events.

Today I’m spending most of my time making sure we have everything back that we should have and I’m carrying out an audit of all our display panels, the Trust does a lot of outreach so we have a huge amount! Often they’re lent out to societies or councils explaining some of the work we’ve carried out in the area or outling what the trust does in general and how you can get involved with our outreach and community and projects. Currently I’m working through our catalogue and checking them off-bit of a difference from this time last week where we were packing tents ready for Neath Abbey’s Activity Day!

Day in the life of an archaeological planning officer-ongoing

2011-07-29T13:13:00.002+01:00

Our main method of finding out where development is going to occur is by checking the weekly planning list produced by the Local Planning authorities (LPA) each week. Two new ones, for Cardiff and Swansea, have been issued this morning so I go through them and note the applications that may have archaeological implications. Today there were 60 registered applications and I identified 11 that could have an impact on archaeological sites. I then checked those with the Historic Environment Record (HER) and also against the early editions of the Ordnance Survey (there are still a lot of post-medieval sites that are not included in the HER and sometimes we can spot these using the old maps). Three of the identified applications appear to be likely to have an impact on the archaeological resource so I enter them into our register so that detailed analysis and advice to the LPA can be prepared later.

Richard Lewis (Head of Projects) came to see me to explain that it appears that a major breach of a planning condition has occurred on a very sensitive archaeological site. I phone the relevant LPA only to find that the Officer dealing with the application and the Head of Planning are both at a meeting outside the Council’s offices. A helpful assistant promises to send me the full set of planning conditions for the development and gave me the name and direct telephone contact for the Enforcement Officer, in case I feel action is required.

Planning & Archaeology in Wales

2011-07-29T13:09:00.001+01:00

Hello! I’m Judith and work for a Welsh Archaeological Trust doing Archaeological Planning. It’s a bit of a varied job and basically we provide information to local authorities, developers, architects, agents, utilities, anything where archaeology is affected by planning.

This morning after all the usual emails, messages etc, I’ve dealt with a utilities query – asking for mitigation where there are Bronze Age cairns in the area and explaining what that means for a below ground development. The first planning application is for methane gas extraction in an area of historic mining – ancient to modern archaeology in seconds! More tea please!

Day in the life of an archaeological planning officer 11am

2011-07-29T13:06:00.002+01:00

The good news is that we have sorted the potential beach of condition matter.

The work that is being carried out is covered by a previous planning consent so the approval of a programme of investigation is not required for the on-going work, although they are meant to have an archaeologist present carrying out a watching brief and Richard has sent one of his team to the site to do it.

Hopefully the results of the watching brief will assist in the preparation of a better programme of investigation when it is produced. It is amazing how much time can be spent sorting out possible breaches of conditions, but it must be done if we are going to ensure that the archaeology is protected.

New Roman discoveries in the offing

2011-07-29T13:01:00.001+01:00

My name is Martin Tuck, a Project Officer with GGAT. My role alternates between fieldwork and office based report writing. At the moment I am engaged on the preparation of an archaeological excavation design, including Scheduled Monument Consent from Cadw, for additional work relating to the site of a Roman fort in Neath, where the Trust carried out an archaeological excavation during 2010, which continued through to the early part of 2011. The Roman remains discovered related to a 1st century Roman fort, which included defensive ditches and associated rampart, cooking areas and an internal circuit road. The forthcoming works are likely to reveal details of part of the barracks.

A day in the life of a GGAT Contract Archaeologist

2011-07-29T12:55:00.003+01:00

My name is Jon Burton, I work in the contracts department of GGAT. I normally spend a fair amount of time out in the field, dealing directly with clients, carrying out watching briefs, evaluations, and on occasions full scale excavations.

Most of this week I’ve been working on post excavation reports, related to watching briefs carried out in the Glamorgan and Gwent area. These include watching briefs carried out in the Caerleon area, related to the line of a former roman road, and another watching brief in the Port Talbot area along the line of a new road scheme which, has uncovered a number of features related to former industrial activity.

Today I had hoped to continue with the writing up of a small watching brief, carried out this week in Cowbridge. However, another fieldwork project has come up in Merthyr which, requires cover next week, and so now I’ll have to produce a risk assessment, and gather some background information in preparation for this new work.

GGAT’s Commercial Dept

2011-07-29T12:51:00.001+01:00

Welcome to a series of blogs today from the commercial department (GGAT Projects) of the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd. My name is Richard Lewis and I am the Head of Projects for the Trust. My role involves supervising all of the many projects we undertake and making sure we have many new projects too!

The kind of projects we carryout are quite diverse and range from Prehistoric and Roman excavations (Swansea Bay and at Neath Nidum) to recording relict early-Industrial iron-stone extractive landscapes in the south Wales valleys.

This morning, my time has been taken up with liaising with the Local Planning Authority’s archaeological advisor (GGAT Curatorial) to provide archaeological cover for an emergency arising in Merthyr Tydfil.

My next problem to solve is how to cover all of our archaeological watching briefs next week with so many staff on holiday. I may have to dust off my old boots and trowel…!!

Day in the life of an archaeological planning officer

2011-07-29T10:13:00.002+01:00

I am Neil Maylan and I work as the Archeological Planning Manager for the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, based in Swansea, Wales. We provide advice to 13 local planning authorities in South East Wales and I hope to be able to provide a work diary for today.

I started my working day circa 7.30am. As part of my job I am responsible for the Trust’s IT network and e-mails, so my first job is to check the e-mails that have come in overnight, delete the vast number of spam messages that are sent to our open e-mail accounts and redirect any messages that have been wrongly addressed or sent to the open accounts and need to be answered by a specific member of staff.

I also check my own e-mails received over night, fortunately few today and read the weekly newsletter from the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) Maritime Affairs Group, which always has some fascinating information on an area of archaeology I really don’t know enough about.

Visit Day of Archaeology to learn more about what archaeologist do.

A day in the life!

2011-07-29T10:11:00.003+01:00

First job of the day today is to sort out all our display panels that we use to showcase our work to public. We've got a huge range from detailing our many excavations to explaining aspects of the trust's work and examples of our outreach programmes, currently we need to make sure we've got all the displays we're meant to have since we've been out and about as part of the Festival of British Archaeology at our 'Archaeology for All' event on the 16th July and our day at Neath Abbey on 23rd July showcasing the work at Dwr-y-Felin school excavating the Roman Fort there.

Once sorted we can update the catalogue, ready for the next event!

Day of Archaeology

2011-07-28T16:24:00.003+01:00

Have you ever wondered what archaeologists really get up to? Well, now’s your chance to find out!

The Day of Archaeology 2011 aims to give the public a window into the daily lives of archaeologists. The event will chronicle what archaeologist do on one single day, July 29th 2011.

So, if you’ve ever wondered what happens here at GGAT or in archaeology in general, visit the DoA website tomorrow, 29th July, to find out what archaeology is really all about.

Visit the Day of Archaeology website here

Historical documents unearthed during Swansea excavation

2011-07-27T15:16:00.004+01:00

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust has been carrying out an archaeological watching-brief during the construction of the Urban Village development on High Street, Swansea for the developers, Coastal Housing.

The watching-brief, which has now been completed, discovered a series of small stone chambers, probably 18th and 19th century cesspits for the cramped slum dwellings and commercial properties that ran down each side of High Street. However, from the basement of one of these buildings a collection of documents were recovered.

The documents were all job applications and references of young women, aged between 15½ and 21, applying for the position of Junior Clerk during the height of the Great Depression. The job was advertised in the October 9th 1931 edition of the Daily Post.

The names of the applicants were:

Constance Thomas of Pinewood Road, Uplands
Jenny James of Richmond Villas, Swansea
Joan Thomas of Delhi Street, St Thomas
Gwladys Williams of Cydach Road, Morriston
Sarah E Davies of Ernald Place, Uplands
Mary E Edmonds of Milton Terrace, Mount Pleasant
Sarah Margaret Rees of Tanyfron, Penywern Road, Ystalyfera
Claudine Price of Glanbrydan Avenue, Uplands

The Trust is interested in tracing the decedents of these women in order to return the letters and would be delighted to hear from any relatives of the applicants. Unfortunately, the position of Junior Clerk was filled some time ago!

Neath Abbey Medieval event

2011-07-23T13:37:00.002+01:00

If you're out and about in Neath today why not visit Neath Abbey Medieval event. GGAT will be there with our children's excavation, wattle n daub activity and Archwilo. Come and say hello.

GGAT 'Archaeology for All'

2011-07-22T12:49:00.003+01:00

We arrived at Swansea Museum to set up for the ‘Archaeology for All’ event with lowering skies and drizzle punctuated with sharp showers and gusts of winds. The medieval archers, the Sons of the Dragon, decided that they would have to set up their encampment inside the building - they were due at Agincourt the following week and needed to keep their bowstrings dry!

As they usually set up in the garden where they attract lots of people in from the street, this did have an effect on visitor numbers which were down from last year. By lunchtime, however, the sun had come out and the visitors had started to arrive and enjoy themselves. Wattle-and-daub and Bronze Age pottery making proved particularly attractive this year - feedback from the children indicated that they really liked being able to make a mess!

The heritage organisations fair included some new groups, like the Clyne Valley Community Project whose members have started researching the industrial archaeology of the valley with help from the Trust. Talks included an update on the Arfordir project, and two projects led by Swansea University, Cu@swansea on the copper works, and a project to map the medieval town. Meanwhile, the Home Guard was caught fraternising with the 12th century warriors of Gwerin y Gwyr, and the Roman cook produced a genuine Roman birthday cake for herself which went down very well!

Better late than never!

2011-07-22T12:43:00.003+01:00

To all those children and parents that I promised that their excavation drawings would be up on our website…well they are now.

To see your drawings visit our news page

April Evans - Work Experience Student

2011-07-21T11:43:00.006+01:00

April Evans – Work Experience Dwr Y Felin Comprehensive School

In two weeks at the GGAT I have learnt a lot, I didn’t realise that there was so much in archaeology. It’s interesting and enjoyable. I became very interested in archaeology when I saw GGAT excavating next to my school. On the first day of my work experience I was welcomed by everyone that works here, everyone makes you feel comfortable and at ease, they are always willing to help out even when they are very busy. On my first day I was taken down to Neath Abbey Ruins to help Natasha Scullion and Edith Evans clean old tiles ready for the open day. Ffion Reynolds from Cadw and Natasha told me a little about the history of Neath Abbey Ruins, I also found out that Neath is a very good place for archaeology. Throughout the first week I helped Martin Tuck fill in databases, that included information form finds at the Dwr Y Felin site, when doing this I realised that there is a lot of history in Neath. Martin also took time to show me some books about Neath and the Dwr Y Felin site.

Every opportunity of going out and visiting somewhere, they were willing to take me with them. I helped pack stuff up ready for Swansea museum open day and we went down to the museum to set up. On the second week of work experience I went with Edith and Natasha to see Time Team excavating copper works at White Rock, its amazing how much they manage to excavate in 3 days.

I helped Paul Huckfield and Natasha prepare for Swansea museum open day by photocopying and laminating posters. Paul also taught me how to use Adobe Illustrator and I designed the inside of a leaflet with information about the children's activities that GGAT offer. In my spare time I had a chance to look at some of the records, to find out the history of where I live, I also looked at some books from the library and saw pictures of Neath Port Talbot from years ago.

Kimberley Dowding showed me some of the finds from different places in South Wales, including a human skull, Roman pottery such as samian ware, amphorae which was used for storage vessels, mortaria used for grinding bowls and medieval pottery such as glazed ware and coarse pottery, and I saw some Roman melon beads that were used as jewellery which are about 1700-2000 years old. Charina Jones the Historic Environment Record Manager showed me what she does everyday using the GIS (Geographical Information System), Charina also showed me how to use the GIS and let me put on the areas of excavation for the Dwr Y Felin site.

Work experience at GGAT has given me a good understanding of the world of work and I have learnt of the importance of key skills, I now have a much clearer idea of what I need to achieve to be able to (hopefully) work here in future.

The atmosphere everybody creates is great. Everyone is kind, helpful, friendly and happy all the time. I have really enjoyed my time here and would love to come back to volunteer and maybe even work here in future.

Nephi Anderton - Work Experience Student and Volunteer

2011-07-20T15:55:00.003+01:00

I first came to Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) near the end of year 10 (first year of my GCSEs). Due to a mix up (at my schools end of organization) I thought that they were looking for a computer aided designer (CAD) when in fact they wanted an archaeologist. The Trust was very helpful for me as they learned about my skill with computers, and used it to their full advantage.

Some of the activities that I did are as follows: I created a flyer for the Oystermouth Castle Community Dig; created a certificate for the children who attended the above named event in two different styles; created a project on the history of my house and my local area; and imported the National Trust boundaries for the Trust to use, as they need to know what finds come from where. I ended my 2 weeks of work experience doing finds washing, the only thing I didn’t do on a computer!

After my GCSEs I returned to the Trust for 3 weeks doing voluntary work. Again I did computer-based jobs, this time doing Conservation Area boundaries; I then did some converting and quality improving for several site record drawings, they took ages but I got them done (eventually); then I created signs for the open day in Swansea Museum; my final computer based job was creating a 3d version of their reconstruction drawing of the salt house in Port Eynon. I then did some mass scanning of the drawings that the children did at the open day. My final job was cleaning the Anglo Saxon wall piece that the children put together (one of the many activities at the open day).

During both visits I felt very welcome and I’m sure that they found me very helpful. Whether you have plans for archaeology or if it’s just a slight interest I would strongly recommend coming here for your work experience, as whenever I had a doubt about a job I was given they were happy to help and it is great fun!

Nephi Anderton

A great start to the Festival!

2011-07-18T09:49:00.000+01:00

Despite the early rain and wind GGAT’s ‘Archaeology for All’ event went off without a hitch, except… Dr Edith Evan lost her raisins and her bun fell off! Her Roman cookery, nevertheless was one of the highlight of the day, the Roman birthday cake was exquisit to taste. Sue and Paul had a constant stream of children making Bronze Age pots and skulls all day! Natasha’s wattle and daub was very messy and much enjoyed by the kids.

GGAT would like to thank everybody that took part and made the day such a success.

Getting Medieval!

2011-07-12T12:32:00.004+01:00

Sunday was a runaway success! The glorious weather brought over 800 visitors to the event. We would like to thank Cardiff University for inviting us to attend. The children thoroughly enjoyed their hands-on taste of excavation with our bone-fide (forgive the pun) Roman burial, well it may not have been entirely genuine.... Also the news of Archwilio spread like wildfire across the village, shame the internet connection was positively medieval. However, we managed to show people a taster of archaeology where they live. Will be nice to see everyone at Swansea Museum this Saturday. Bring on the sunshine!

From the same flock?

2011-07-11T13:11:00.004+01:00

Could these two rams have come from the same flock? The discovery of this green glazed rams head vessel (on the left) at the excavations run by Cardiff University at Cosmeston, looks very similar to the one discovered by GGAT during our excavations at Cardiff Castle (on the right). On both the enclosed tubular spout takes the form of a stylised ram’s head with large curled horns on either side. The eyes are formed by iron-rich pads of clay. The vessel is decorated on the shoulder and body with concentric lines, chevrons, and small pads similarly formed by applied strips and blobs of iron-rich clay.

Vessels, generally jugs, with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic design, usually involving the pouring spout, were popular during the medieval period, and a specialised vessel form known as the aquamanile, a horizontal ewer for the washing of hands at table, was modelled on the form of a standing animal.

The jug from Cardiff Castle is parallelled by another vessel from Cardiff, excavated at Rumney Castle (Cae Castell) in the early 1980s but subsequently all but destroyed by fire at the Trust’s headquarters in 1983 (Lightfoot 1992, 146 and Plate VIB)

Lightfoot, K W B, 1992 ‘Rumney Castle, a Ringwork and Manorial Centre in South Glamorgan’, Medieval Archaeology 36, 96-163

Exciting find from the Cosmeston excavation

2011-07-10T19:32:00.003+01:00

Students from Cardiff University Archaeology department made an exciting discovery whilst carrying out excavations at Cosmeston medieval village…one of GGAT’s trowels!! The students were opening one of GGAT’s old trenches at the site when the find turned up in the backfill.

If you were working for GGAT during the 1980's and recognize the trowel as yours please contact us.

Exciting find from the Cosmeston excavation

2011-07-10T19:32:00.000+01:00

Countdown!

2011-07-06T14:51:00.003+01:00

Only 10 days to go before the Festival of British Archaeology starts. I'll be spending this evening drawing up the menu for my Roman cookery demonstration at Swansea Museum on 16th July. Let's hope it goes down as well as last year's!

Work Experience GGAT Style

2011-07-06T14:32:00.013+01:00

Throughout June and July a number of students will (and have been) with us for their work experience placement. So far Marissa, Dylan and Nephi have undertaken field visits to archaeological sites, explored where they live on historic maps and using Archwilio, designed posters, digitised Conservation Areas, dealt with Roman and Medieval finds, promoted GGAT's Open Day and much more. The students work with staff throughout the Trust to gain an insight into the many activities and operations of a company such as GGAT from traditional archaeological processes to more technical work with a range of IT software. Every summer we have a number of students here, so book your place now to avoid disappointment! If you have a particular project in mind, just let us know.

Read some student testimonials online on our main website.

Burry Holms full of potential!

2011-07-06T14:31:00.007+01:00

As part of the Arfordir project, Ellie recently led a guided walk for volunteers out to the tidal island of Bury Holms. They were very lucky with the weather, and had a very enjoyable day identifying new archaeological sites and assessing the condition of other sites.

The hillfort which encloses the top of the hill is very well-preserved with a deep ditch and a high bank forming defences on one side, with the steep cliffs forming defences on the seaward sides of the island. There is a Bronze Age burial mound at the far western end of the hillfort, which would have been in existence when the fort was in use. One new site that was identified in the course of this fieldwork was a modern concrete pad, partially cut into the burial mound, which was initially interpreted as a Second World War gun emplacement, but which turned out to be a lighthouse base for the gas-fired lighthouse which was set up there after the Whiteford lighthouse was decommissioned.

On the other side of the island, the group visited the extensive ecclesiastical complex. They saw the ruined remains of a small stone church, and the ruins of another building which might have been a teaching room, both dating to the medieval period. Just to the south of the church are the foundations and earth banks which defined a large area of domestic buildings and living quarters. To the north of these is a building which is thought to date to after the reformation of the church under Henry VIII, part of which are still standing to around 2m high! When parts of this site were excavated in the 1960s, they found that the remains earlier buildings from the Early-medieval period survived underneath these buildings.

The group hopes to do a detailed survey of the ecclesiastical remains as part of the project, though that will have to wait until autumn, when the vegetation is a little lower!

Welcome from the Chief Executive

2011-07-06T14:29:00.007+01:00

Hello

My name is Andrew Marvell. I am the Chief Executive at GGAT.

In order that we can reach as wide an audience as possible through new technology the Trust added to its website outputs by setting up a range of social networking links (blogger, wordpress, twitter and so forth). We realised that only a few of our staff were using these facilities and most were relying on our outreach officer to post content. So we have set up a series of internal training sessions so that all our staff can get up to speed with using these information conduits with the intention that we will be able to let you know more quickly about the projects that we are undertaking, the events that we have planned, and perhaps most importantly the discoveries that we make both during fieldwork and during post-excavation studies.

Lovely bone needles and pin

2011-07-06T14:24:00.007+01:00

They were discovered at a farmhouse at Marshfield during renovation works. The property owner kindly brought them to our attention as part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. They are of likely post-medieval date. Bone pins and needle are known from the earliest prehistoric times through to the post-medieval period. Some were beautifully decorated with stylistic designs through to animal figures. Others are know to have had glass inlays. Undecorated examples are difficult to date and are usually dated by their associated finds and contexts.

Archaeology for All!

2011-06-29T14:52:00.004+01:00

Come along to the FREE event on 16th July 2011 being held at Swansea (old) museum from 10:30am to 4pm

Archaeological Talks at 11am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm
Historical Society Displays
Glassmaking, Coin Striking and Roman Cookery Demonstrations
Children's activities

Something for Everyone!

Come along and discover something new!

Be an archaeologist for a day

2011-06-29T14:39:00.004+01:00

A free day out for all the family. Dig up a skeleton and dig for treasure.

Church Bells

2011-06-29T14:26:00.003+01:00

How many church bells in Swansea? There are two peals of eight bells, one in St Mary's in the town centre, and one in St Paul Sketty. There are loads of churches and chapels with bells, maybe one or two, often cast with names and dates on them, some of which may be up to 200 years old or more and may be connected with the early industrial history of the area with many bells paid for by industrialists. Tell us about your bells!

Possibly the earliest medieval pottery in South East Wales discovered

2011-06-28T10:59:00.002+01:00

GGAT Projects recently made an exciting discovery during an archaeological evaluation at the William Jones Almshouses in Monmouth when a sherd of Saxon cooking pot (D1 Monmouth fabric series type) was recovered from one of the trenches. Material of this type dates to the 10th century and is exceptionally rare, known only from Hereford, Gloucester and Sidbury, near Worcester. It is completely unique in Monmouthshire and is possibly the earliest British made medieval pottery ever found in South East Wales.

Mystery of Oystermouth Castle Medieval Ditch

2011-06-15T12:24:00.001+01:00

The report on the environmental samples taken from the soil filling the possible medieval ditch around Oystermouth Castle been returned to the office.

The results are both puzzling and disappointing and show the soil to be relevantly clean, containing miniscule amount of charcoal and a very small amount of unidentifiably biological material (and lots of pebbles). The soil from medieval ditches tends to be very dirty. So does this mean there was no ditch? Where we just unlucky and happened to sample a very clean area of the ditch? Was the ditch regularly cleaned-out when open and filled back in with remarkably clean soil? (Most unlikely!) Or was it opened and backed-filled quickly with the same material, meaning

the soil was fairly clean? (In which case the ditch wouldn’t have served a defensive purpose but could have been for foundations or quarrying.)

I’m beginning to wonder if the ditch (assuming it existed) ran around the bottom of The Tump, which was used as an outer bailey.
What do people think?

Congratulations!

2011-06-03T10:12:00.003+01:00

All the staff, Trustees and Members of GGAT would like to wish Sue and Charles every happiness on this their big day. They will be tying the knot at the County Hall, Swansea this afternoon.

Archwilio website is really useful for the Arfordir project!

2011-05-27T12:40:00.002+01:00

The Archwilio website (http://www.archwilio.org.uk/) is a very useful tool for planning your survey work, you can use it to check what sites have already been recorded in the area, plan your route and check whether there are any sites you’d particularly like to visit or monitor. It’s very easy to use and gives you completely free access the full Historic Environment Records for GGAT and for the other three Welsh Archaeological Trusts (Dyfed, Clwyd-Powys and Gwynedd). There is also an area for you to leave comments and feedback about the website and how you’ve found it as a user. Check it out today!

Arfordir study area extended to include more of the south Wales coastline

2011-05-27T12:36:00.002+01:00

The study area for the Arfordir project has now been extended to the east, as far as the mouth of the River Ogmore, to include the foreshore at Port Talbot and Porthcawl, as well as Margam and Kenfig Burrows and Merthyr Mawr Warren. A number of people have already signed up to take part in work in the new area, and local history groups have expressed interest. Meetings are planned in the area to raise the profile of the project and to recruit more volunteers. Training events and guided walks around the coastline will be organised soon. If you’d like to find out more about the project, or sign up to get involved in it, come to the next meeting at 6.30pm on Tuesday 8th June at Carnegie Hall, Skewen.

Early Bronze Age Axe, Vale of Glamorgan

2011-04-28T11:57:00.005+01:00

This decorated developed flat axe was recently unearthed in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales and dates from the Early Bronze Age dating (c. 2,000 - 1,800BC). The axe is currently with staff from the National Museum of Wales.

+++stop press+++AMAZING DISCOVERIES FROM DWR Y FELIN+++stop press+++

2011-03-31T10:28:00.009+01:00

LEARNING LANDSCAPES OPEN DAY-Community learning Opportunities in the World Heritage Site

2011-03-30T15:50:00.005+01:00

If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the history, wildlife or geology of the local area then this is your chance. Come along to Blaenavon World Heritage Centre on Saturday 2nd April to find out more about the brand new community learning courses on offer in the World Heritage Site.

Tutors will be available from 9am to 5pm to discuss the exciting new learning opportunities available. There will also be a series of guided walks, talks and workshops throughout the day.

This day marks the launch of a programme of courses which will be delivered from May 2011 at venues throughout the World Heritage Site. The courses have been developed by the Centre for Community and Lifelong Learning at University of Wales Newport and the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. They cover a wide range of subjects from local history and archaeology, to politics, culture and society, to ecology and geology. There is even an opportunity to learn film making skills.
The courses form part of the Forgotten Landscapes Project and are possible thanks to the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. Forgotten Landscapes Education Officer, Ceri Cadwallader said

‘Blaenavon Industrial Landscape has been recognised for its outstanding universal value through designation as a World Heritage Site. We are delighted to be able to offer these courses, and hope they will allow more people to see just how rich this landscape is, both in history and wildlife.’

All Open Day activities Free with no booking necessary. For more information please go to visitblaenavon.co.uk or contact Blaenavon World Heritage Centre, telephone 01495 742333

Recent Finds-Stamped mortarium rim

2011-03-23T11:53:00.002Z

This mortarium rim was excavated from the recent excavation on the site of the Roman fort at Dwr-y-Felin school, Neath (Nidum). The mortarium (a bowl for grinding and mixing food) was found within the intervallum area of the fortress that contained the camp ovens (the intervallum is the area within a Roman fortress that lies between the rampart and the barrack blocks). A roadway (the via sagularis), that extended around the inner circuit of the fortress, and the latrines can also be found within the intervallum area.

The letters S and N can clearly be seen on the maker's stamp. It is likely that this stamp can be attributed to Secundus who was known to have worked in the Verulamium region (St. Albans), around the 1st century AD. A similar stamp was found during excavations in the 1980s at the Roman fort in Loughor (Leucarum).

Congratulations!

2011-03-23T11:39:00.002Z

All the staff at GGAT would like to say congratulations to Rob and Liz on the birth of their baby daughter.

Swansea Copper Day 5 March 2011

2011-03-04T14:36:00.001Z

Copper Day marks the 200th anniversary of the first copper ingot rolling out of the internationally-famed Hafod Copperworks of Vivian and Sons and the 50th birthday of the Lower Swansea Valley Project which began the world’s first post-industrial land reclamation scheme.

In the city that once smelted half of the world’s copper this festival of talks, tours, activities and information aims to raise awareness of the significance of the historic Welsh copper industry, its heritage, and the place of copper in our lives today. For more information visit the Copper Day website.

Excavating the Roman fort at Neath

2011-02-22T12:56:00.002Z

The playing fields at Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive Upper School, Neath, lie over the site of the Roman auxiliary fort of Nidum which was first discovered in the 1950s. Some areas of the fort and the civil settlement that lies beside it have been explored since then, giving us a general picture of its size and layout and suggesting that the defences of the earliest, timber fort of the 1st century were in a slightly different position from the later stone fort which was built in the early 2nd century and occupied sporadically at least into 3rd century. However, the evidence was not good enough for Cadw to be able to extend the scheduled area of the stone fort to cover all of these possible earlier defences.

In 2010, the school needed to build a new teaching block in the playing field. The site chosen was outside the scheduled area but still within the area where we thought there was probably archaeology. For this reason the local authority, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, commissioned the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust to carry out the necessary excavation. The results of this excavation have given us a whole new understanding of the early fort and the area outside its north-west gate.

The defences of the timber fort (or perhaps two successive timber forts) consisted of four parallel ditches and a rampart. Within the excavated area there was also an interval tower projecting beyond the rampart. Three of the ditches were about 2m wide at the top and the fourth was about 1.5m. They each sloped down in a V-shape to give a width of 0.2m. The combined width of all together was greater than12m, which would have proved a formidable obstacle. However, we cannot be certain that all of them were in use at the same time. The outer ditch was interrupted at the point where it met the road coming out of the north-west gate on a causeway about 4m wide. If the fort was turned to face enemy territory, this will have been the road out of the main gate (the porta praetoria), but it does not seem to have been laid in this form until the stone fort was built, since underneath it was an extensive area of metalling that probably went with the timber fort. This must have been a particularly useful feature as when the outer ditch went out use, the whole of the section to the south-west of the causeway and the terminus of the section to the north-east was sealed by a cobbled surface, probably a hardstanding outside the gate.

The rampart, which ran alongside the edge of the innermost ditch was about 6.7m wide. The front was supported on a stone foundation made from rubble and cobbles and the back was faced with turf. In between, the core was made from a mixture of soil dug from the ditch and clay. About half way between the gateway position and the corner of the fort was an interval tower about 3.2m by 2.8m. Its position was marked by the remains of three large postholes and by breaks in the stone foundation of the rampart (the posthole at the fourth corner was indistinct). Two of the posts were set into the front edge of the rampart but, possibly uniquely in Britain, the other two were set into the ditch line on the outside of the rampart. This tower would have allowed soldiers to shoot at anyone attacking the gate.

Another unique feature was found in the face of the rampart, between the interval tower and the gateway. The line of the stone foundation had been broken to form a recess projecting into the rampart core with its ends angled inward on each side, with at the back what seems to have been a trench for a palisade to stop the rampart from collapsing (and possibly to support a lifting mechanism). The purpose of this feature is unknown - could it and a pit dug near the gateway perhaps be related to the soldiers extracting gravel from the earlier ditches for the later fort?

As usual a road (the via sagularis) ran round the fort inside the defences. Between it and the rampart were the remains of a cluster of seven ovens, with another lying about 12m away. They were represented by circular bases of flagstones or cobbling enclosed by walls in the local sandstone. One had been replaced by a rectangular oven base. The overlying soil in this area contained a lot of charcoal, probably the remains of fuel raked out the ovens.

Outside the fort, the team found very few traces of activity apart from a building that had already been discovered during a trial excavation in the 1990s, so we still have only a limited understanding of the civil settlement.

Now the excavation is finished, we will have to write up the results after studying the records made on site and the finds. One interesting discovery we have already made about the pottery is that a mortarium (a bowl for grinding and mixing food) was produced by the same maker as a mortarium from the fort at Loughor thirteen miles away to the west.

Watch videos of the excavation

Clip 1

Clip 2

Arfordir fieldwork reveals new sites!

2011-02-10T19:16:00.009Z

In advance of a number of planned guided walks, Andy and I went out, sometimes with Olivia and Kelly, our student interns for this year, to check the planned routes.

This work highlighted that several of the stretches of coastline we’re looking at are suffering from severe and ongoing erosion, and that these areas will need a lot of monitoring, to check the condition of sites, and check for any new sites which might be revealed by this erosion which could benefit from further detailed recording or excavation.

It also showed that there are lots of sites out there which are not yet recorded in the Historic Environment Record, everything from a prehistoric field system to the remains of Second World War defences, and literally dozens of unrecorded wreck sites! In total, we recorded 71 different new sites, with many more which could benefit from enhanced, updated descriptions.

The walks which are due to take place from next week will visit all these sites and make detailed records of them, and will target other known sites to see how they are suffering from coastal erosion and whether we can add anything to the information recorded about them.

We’re planning to visit Three Cliffs, Port Eynon, Broughton Bay/Whiteford, Rhossili and Swansea Bay, send Ellie an email or call the Trust if you’d like to sign up for any of these.

Volunteers join Arfordir fieldwork

2011-02-10T18:27:00.004Z

Olivia Smith, student intern, GGAT.

I went with Ellie and Andy to Rhossili Bay to help survey the area to so that Ellie could take volunteers on guided walks around the bay to manage coastal erosion. This was part of the Arfordir project to prevent coast erosion to archaeological sites in the Gower. Rhossili is quite a nice area of the Gower. This walk was really to determine where the best paths on the Rhossili Down were, so as to take the best paths when Ellie and Andy actually take volunteers.

We started at the bottom of the down, and made our way along the ridge. There are quite a few prehistoric cairns located close to the path. Cairns are essentially tombs with rocks piled up on top. Most of them looked like similar what is described, but some you could not even tell were cairns anymore. Ellie and Andy were quite knowledgeable on the subject. I did have a hard time telling the difference between a cairn and a natural outcropping of rocks because they look fairly similar to me.

Once we got further along the ridge, and old World War II fort could be seen. Most of what is left of the fort is just platforms where buildings use to be. There was a big group of platforms together, which is most likely where all the soldiers lived that were stationed there. Other building identified was the radar station. I do not really know much about forts, but Andy seems to know the most about them. All and all the day was quite a lot of fun, and I saw some really interesting archaeological sites that might not have seem if I had not gone with who I did.

New site revealed at Broughton Dunes

2011-02-10T18:07:00.010Z

Just before Christmas, the Trust received a phone call from a local resident at Broughton who had noticed some stonework eroding out of the dunes which appeared to be archaeological.

I went out and had a look and confirmed that this definitely appeared to be structural, consisting of several lengths of walling, apparently built on a buried land surface visible part way up the dune, which is suffering from serious erosion, thus the new exposure of this site. Unfortunately, the walls are very inaccessible being partway up an unstable and eroding dune, so it’s difficult to get close to them, but they may represent the remains of a building (there appears to be a corner with a return and a possible doorway), while further patches of exposed stone further along the dune may indicate other structures. Alternatively, they may be the remains of early revetting to stabilise the dune.

A return visit was carried out in January and unfortunately it appears that the erosion is ongoing and causing more damage. More stonework had been exposed, but one of the sections of wall appeared to have been completely destroyed, and there was more collapsed material at the foot of the dune.

Hopefully ongoing monitoring of the condition of the site, and the recording of more elements as they are revealed, will give us more information about the exact nature and date of the site.

Check the photos for an illustration of exactly how much damage one month's erosion did to this site, to appreciate how vulnerable this exciting new discovery really is. The upper photos is from December, and the lower from January; in it, the wall on the left side of the earlier picture has been destroyed. Hopefully ongoing monitoring of the condition of the site, and the recording of more elements as they are revealed, will give us more information about the exact nature and date of the site.

Community Archaeology Training Placement

2011-02-02T14:48:00.000Z

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust is pleased to be a partner to the Community Archaeologists Training Programme led by the Council for British Archaeology with funding provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund under the 'Skills for the Future' Programme.

The Trust through this programme is able to offer a 12-month Community Archaeology Training Placement for 2011-2012 with commencement in April 2011.

The successful candidate will work along side our experienced staff on community orientated projects - the links to Arfordir and Community Projects on the front page of our website www.ggat.org.uk can be used to see some of the type of work that you would be expected to be involved in.

For full details of the position please see the application pack which can be downloaded here, or visit the project pages on the Council for British Archaeology website where further details about the project can also be found.

Snow forces filming in-doors

2010-12-20T15:05:00.006Z

Filming of the excavation at Dwr y felin came to an abrupt halt this week with the return of the Arctic weather. Filming, however, switched to the GGAT office, where staff washed some of the finds uncovered during the dig.

Arfordir Coastal Heritage Community Recording Project Starts

2010-12-08T11:18:00.006Z

The Arfodir community project is now up and running, with the first training events taking place this week and next, with more to follow in the New Year, with fieldwork also starting early next year. If you live near, or regularly visit the Gower coastline or Swansea Bay, and you’d like to know more about the heritage around the coast, why not get involved? You can learn about the archaeology of the area and take an active role in recording and monitoring sites at risk from coastal erosion and other threats – people who live nearby or regularly visit the area will be far more able to spot changes to sites, and will be able to notice new things along the length of the coast as they are exposed by the actions of the weather and tides.

There is a wealth of archaeological sites along the coast of Gower and Swansea, but many are incompletely recorded, or not recorded at all, and all are under threat in this dynamic environment. They can yield so much information about the history of people’s interaction with the landscape and the sea, from some of the earliest human occupation to the Second World War and right up to the present day.

Volunteers will be given training, advice and support by archaeologists at GGAT, and can borrow equipment to use when recording a site. The project will run on an ongoing basis, volunteers can go out to look at sites independently, or with archaeologists, they can do fieldwork when they're out and about in the area, and whenever suits them.

If you’re passionate about the heritage of your area, and enjoy being outdoors around the coast, why not take part and learn about the local heritage and archaeology, and contribute to helping us build up a bigger picture of the coast and how people have used it throughout history? If you’re interested and you'd like to get involved, get in touch with the Arfordir coordinator, Ellie Graham, at ellie@ggat.org.uk, or through:
Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd,
Heathfield House,
Heathfield,
Swansea SA1 6EL

Telephone 01792 655208

Excavating the Roman fort at Neath

2010-11-08T10:27:00.011Z

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeolgical Trust is currently carrying out an excavation at Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive Upper School, Neath, for Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. A large L-shaped area is being fully investigated before a new teaching block is built on the site.

The development area lies immediately north of the Roman fort of Nidum (Neath), which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Gm215). The scheduled area is known to cover almost the entire northern half of the stone-built fort. The southern part of the fort is now under housing (apart from two of the gates which were preserved when the houses were built), but the scheduled area also includes the earlier timber phases of the fort, which was larger than the stone successor. Recent investigations have proved that substantial remains of buildings and roads of Roman date existed outside of the fort's stone defences, probably part of a vicus (a settlement of civilians) outside the fort. A recent investigation of the northeast defences identified the previously undiscovered northeast gate of the fort.

So far, the excavation team has identified major elements of a 1st century fort (or perhaps two successive forts), and possible late Roman activity in the vicus. Discoveries include part of the northeast defences - a large double ditch and rampart - with an external road and a possible internal tower. Several bread ovens have been identified between the rampart and the via sagularis that runs along the inside of the defences. There are also several timber buildings.

At the western side of the excavation, the team has found the point at which the road came in from the north, running straight towards the centre of the fort. We do not know how it crossed the ditches, whether it was by means of a causeway or a timber bridge. A geophyical survey was carried out in 2003 on this side of the fort and picked up the road and the defences, but the results of the excavation show that they were not quite as the survey had suggested.

Vale of Glamorgan Fieldwalking project

2010-09-28T13:30:00.001+01:00

GGAT would like to thank all those people who attended the fieldwalking project at Monknash, Vale of Glamorgan over the weekend. The event was a great success with 52 people actively participating over the two days, while 32 visitors came along to see what was going on.

The visitor numbers however do not count the person/persons who broke into the tent on Saturday night! To this person(s) I would like to say thank you for not destroying the place, nevertheless, the 70p you left in exchange for the coffee and doughnuts that you stole does not go all the way to covering the cost of the items.

Where’s has the GGAT website gone?

2010-09-28T11:30:00.001+01:00

You’re probably noticed by now that you cannot access the GGAT website. Yes, we have paid our bills! The problem lies with our hosts server, which died completely on Thursday and they have been busy rebuilding it since. Hopefully normal service will be resumed by tomorrow.

Want to work for GGAT?

2010-09-21T10:26:00.000+01:00

Project Archaeologists (field staff) required

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd are currently looking to appoint field staff for short-term contracts at an excavation in Neath, south Wales, with immediate effect.

Four/five week contracts available with immediate start, possible extensions to contract thereafter.

Pay according to experience:

Trainee Project Archaeologist (less than PIfA grade experience) £14,326 pro rata. Project Archaeologist (PIfA grade and above) £15,226 pro rata.

Requirements:

Applications:

There is no formal application route, interested persons should apply in writing (emails are fine) to the Trust with a letter of application and CV.

Contact

Mrs P Jefferson (penny@ggat.org.uk)

Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd
Heathfield House,
Heathfield,
Swansea.
SA1 6EL
Tel: 01792 655208
Fax: 01792474469

Celtic Manor Archaeology

2010-09-03T16:30:00.004+01:00

You asked for it, so you got it! The slightly unfinished Celtic Manor Archaeology webpages are now live. If you're viewing the site in IE I'd try another browser, Firefox, Safari, Chrome all work properly but I haven't ironed out the creases for IE yet (as usual!).

Keep visiting the site over the next few weeks as we add more images, reports and other stuff in the run up to the Celtic Manor Resort hosting the 2010 Ryder Cup.

You can visit the site at http://www.ggat.org.uk/celtic_manor/cm_index.html or follow the link on the GGAT frontpage.

Enjoy!

Fieldwalking in the Vale of Glamorgan

2010-09-01T08:47:00.004+01:00

Ever fancied fieldwalking in the Vale of Glamorgan? Well now's your chance. The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust is pleased to announce that we will be carrying out a community archaeological fieldwalking exercise at Monknash in the Vale of Glamorgan over a single weekend in late September.

If you fancy coming along for an hour or two, or the whole weekend then please contact us to arrange placements.

There will be a number of activities running, including fieldwalking, finds washing and cataloguing. The community project is open to all and volunteers are welcome to take part in as many activities as they wish, provided we have those places available at the time. The activities will be carried out on farmland so please advise us as quickly as possible if you require any support with your mobility.

Southeast Wales Industrial Ironworks Project

2010-08-10T16:00:00.004+01:00

Between 2004 and 2010, the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) carried out a project, with grant aid from Cadw, to study the industrial landscapes of the northern coalfield rim, specifically the Heads of the Valleys area, associated with the coke-fired iron industry, perhaps the most influential of industries in the history of south Wales. The project encompassed the ironworks themselves and related features, associated transport networks, water management, and extractive features.
The aim of the project was to raise the level of data on, and hence the profile and understanding of, this heritage resource, and ultimately aid preservation through proactive management.

Visit the Southeast Wales Industrial Ironworks Project website.

Find of the Month-August North Devon pottery from a recent GGAT excavation

2010-08-10T14:43:00.003+01:00

Among ceramic material recovered from a large infill deposit at the Urban Village development in High Street Swansea were two vessels with external slip decoration. One is a jug en sgraffito, of which almost the whole profile survives, that had been used as a container for limewash or a similar material, and probably dating to the end of the 17th century.

Vessels with sgraffito design, together with the much more numerous 'gravel tempered' plainwares, were imported in great quantity into the ports of south Wales in the 17th and 18th centuries from the production centres of north Devon, principally Barnstaple and Bideford, when transport by sea and water was the only viable method of moving large quantities of heavy goods such as pottery. The other is a small goblet with splayed base, similar to stoneware types imported from the continent during the 16th century, and probably of somewhat later date. It may also be a product of the North Devon industries, but otherwise may have originated in south Somerset, whose pottery industries also exported widely to south Wales before the trade with north Devon became predominant, or perhaps it is a local product.

Both vessels have been carefully and painstakingly restored by Sue Hughes, the GGAT Conservation Officer, and will be on display at Trust Headquarters until their long-term future is determined.

GGAT ‘Archaeology for all’ Open Day

2010-07-17T12:55:00.001+01:00

It’s been all go here at Swansea Museum as GGAT’s annual Open Day as part of the Festival of British Archaeology takes place. We’ve had the Deputy Lord Mayor of Swansea visiting the activities on offer, he especially liked the delights from the Roman Cooking. The medieval period is well represented with archers and knights providing hands on displays. You can research your family history, bring in that strange object you found in your backgaren to the experts on the Finds roadshow. There’s also lots of activities for the kids. If you have a few spare hours come and visit and se whats on offer.

The Welsh Trusts launch Archwilio

2010-07-01T09:45:00.003+01:00

Alun Ffred Jones AM, Minister for Heritage, launches Archwilio at the Treftadaeth Conference on the 1st July at Swansea. The system gives access to over 100,000 records maintained by the four Welsh archaeological trusts. The Minister observed "Wales is the first country in Britain that has made all its archaeological records available online", and "Archwilio will be a tremendous asset not only for the people of Wales but also for those further afield who have an interest in the rich archaeology and cultural heritage of our country". He added that he was delighted to see independent organisations developing systems that will contribute towards addressing some of the aims set out in his The Welsh Historic Environment Strategic Statement, published in 2009.

Lord Mayor visits Oystermouth community excavation

2010-06-28T15:32:00.003+01:00

The Lord Mayor of Swansea, Cllr Richard Lewis, and the Lady Mayoress recently visited the Oystermouth Castle community excavation. They talked to various members of the team before being shown around the site. Afterwards, GGAT archaeologists Rob Dunning and Andy Sherman explained what had been found in the various trenches. Andy also showed them some of the nicest finds from last years as well as this year excavation.
Mrs Lewis was particularly interested to see what we had discovered, since she was brought up in Oystermouth and used to play at the castle when she was a girl.

Oystermouth Castle finds-Update

2010-06-18T12:20:00.004+01:00

After investigation it has been revealed that the object we initially thought to be a crossbow bolt may actually be a type of arrowhead. This type of arrowhead was commonly used between the 11th and 15th centuries. Exciting stuff!

Oystermouth Castle finds

2010-06-17T12:06:00.004+01:00

The Oystermouth Castle community excavation is now in full swing. In Trench 1, at the front of the castle, more of the base of the tower and the ditch has been revealed and investigated. While at the rear of the castle two new trenches have been opened in an area thought to be where the castle bailey was located.
The most noteworthy finds so far have all come from Trench 1, these been a handful of Victorian coins and more impressively a medieval crossbow bolt. All of these came to light thanks to the RGC sieve grader that the Trust bought earlier in the year.

For more information visit the excavation website or read the dig journal

Excavations at Oystermouth Castle 2010

2010-05-17T15:17:00.002+01:00

Following the success of last year’s excavation at Oystermouth Castle, the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust will be carrying out more work this summer with the support of Cadw, the Friends of Oystermouth Castle, the Gower Society, Swansea City Council and Swansea University. We will be opening up more of the ditch in front of the west gate tower, and digging two small trenches behind the castle to see whether this was the site of the outer bailey, an enclosure that would have housed buildings like stores and stables.

The excavation will start on 7th June and run for three weeks until 25th June. This will enable the contactors who will be carrying out repairs to the castle and constructing the new visitor centre to move in on 1st July.

We are looking for volunteers to come and work on the project. You could learn how to excavate, how to record what we discover, or how to deal with the objects that we find.

Just download and fill in the application forms and we will fit you into the programme. Volunteers will need to be 18+ to work on the site, but under-18s are welcome to join in the finds work.

If that sounds too strenuous, you are welcome to come and see what we find. Guided tours will be arranged throughout the dig so you can keep abreast of the discoveries.

Booking for places will start on 17th May and close on 31st May. You can download application forms from our website or ring the Trust office for a copy (01792 655208). Booking is essential if you would like to volunteer

Exciting Roman discovery found beneath school carpark

2010-05-05T09:43:00.003+01:00

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeolgical Trust is currently working together with Wales and West Utilities, Dwr-y-felin Comprehensive School and Cadw to investigate the remains of a Roman fort called Nideum in the grounds of Dwr-y-felin school, Neath, South Wales

It would have been occupied by a unit of auxiliaries, high quality troops but less prestigious than the legions.

Nidum was first mentioned in a document called the Antonine Itinerary. Drawn up in the 3rd century AD, this is a sort of Roman route-finder, listing the staging-posts for some of the principal routes in the empire with the distances between them. Nidum is mentioned as being on the road from Carmarthen (Moridunum) to Wroxeter (Viroconium) in Shropshire, lying between Loughor (Leucarum) and probably Cowbridge (Bomium).

The Roman fort was discovered in the late 1950s under the playing fields of the school. The earliest fort was made of timber and was only used for a short period (AD 75-80). It was rebuilt on a slightly smaller scale in about AD 80. From about 120AD at least the defences were rebuilt in stone. It seems that the fort was mothballed and then brought back into use several times before finally being abandoned in the early 4th century AD.

The location of only two of the four gates into the fortress are known-they are preserved and can be seen on the opposite side of the Neath Abbey Road. The present excavation may well have located the position of a third entrance, the northeast gate. This would represent the most striking Roman building to be found in Neath since the other gates were identified 50 years ago.

Find of the Month-March

2010-03-10T11:54:00.001Z

This Bronze Age socketed spearhead was found on the intertidal zone of Swansea Bay by Mr Peter Jones and dates to c.1150-750BC.

The spearhead has applied decoration around the socket, beneath the start of the blade. The decoration comprises four bands of linear striations flanked on each side by repeating chevrons or small punched triangles and has been finely incised and carefully applied. It has been suggested that this type of decoration may be refering to bindings that were used on earlier socketed spearheads to keep them fastened to their wooden shafts.

Socketed and riveted spearheads have been recorded from Wales, such as the example from the Llantwit Major hoard in the Vale of Glamorgan. Decorated spearheads have also been recorded, for example at Guilsfield in Powys where one of the spearheads has a punched dot decoration around the socket and base. However, the closest parallel for the Swansea spearhead is an example found in the Thames at Staines and now in the Museum of London collection.

Archaeologists discover more about history of Aberystwyth school site

2010-02-24T15:40:00.002Z

As part of the works to build an extension to Plas Crug Primary School in Aberystwyth, an archaeological watching brief has revealed a fascinating structure, which was actually under the existing school building.

Historical documents (Brut y Tywysogion) dating back to the twelfth century talk about storming and burning a castle called ‘Aber-rheidol in 1164. Although we don’t know where this castle was, we thought it might have been on the site of Plas Crug School. The school is close to the mouth of the Rheidol River, between Llanbadarn Fawr and the medieval town of Aberystwyth, as described by the documents.

Before the school was built, there was a farmstead on the site, and there are lots of paintings, drawings and early photographs to show what it looked like. It was a fortified mansion, with a square tower. The tower was quite famous during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and was an attraction for people sightseeing in the area. They describe a ruined, fortified building on an outcrop overlooking the floodplain of the river. Their drawings and paintings show battlements on the top of the tower, and the entrance on the first-floor entrance. These are features we would expect in a medieval building, possibly even going back to the twelfth century. On the other hand, it might have been built or rebuilt during the later eighteenth century by the Powells of Nanteos as a folly. By the end of the eighteenth century, it had been incorporated into a farmhouse.

We found two quite substantial walls and part of a third wall, forming three sides of a square building. They might have been built in the medieval period, as the stones look as though they were bonded with clay, which is typical of medieval structures. However, mortar in some parts of the wall appears to be of quite a late type, showing that the walls were rebuilt much later. We were able to dig to check the width of one of the walls, and it was found to be 0.82m thick. The building originally had a cobbled floor, though later on a concrete floor had been laid on top. It appeared to have been used at least into the nineteenth century, as the walls had been covered in plaster on top of an earlier layer of whitewash. There was also an iron boiler in the corner of the room.

Having finished the excavations, we think that the walls we found are the base of the tower. It seems to have medieval origins, but was extensively rebuilt at a later date, and we still don’t know whether its appearance in the paintings and drawings is how it looked in the Middle Ages.

Introduction to Maritime Archaeology, the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS)

2010-01-21T15:51:00.004Z

GGAT in partnership with the United World College of the Atlantic are hosting a lecture by Ian Cundy of the Malvern Archaeological Diving Unit on Maritime Archaeology and the Nautical Archaeology Society. The talk will be held in the Bradenstoke Hall at Atlantic College, St Donats, LLantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan on Friday 22nd January at 6.30pm. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Cardiff Castle hammerscale samples reveal some surprising finds

2010-01-21T13:07:00.002Z

The processing of hammerscale samples taken during excavations at Cardiff Castlehas revealed some interesting and surprising finds (further details on the excavation can be found within GGAT Newsletter 1 in our newsletter archive). The hammerscale samples were taken from an area next to a Roman road in which evidence of industrial activity, such as kilns and pits of hammerscale and slag were found. Hammerscale are the scale-like fragments of metal, which break off when striking a heated metal object with a hammer in ordered to shape it.
In order for the hammerscale samples to be analysed by a specialist they must first undergo wet sieving. Initially the samples are submerged in a bucket of water and swirled around by hand to loosen the hammerscale from any other material in the sample. Then the mixture is poured through two interlocking sieves placed one above the other, the sieve with the finest mesh being at the bottom to collect the smaller scales, leaving the lager scales and other objects of similar size (including stones) in the top sieve. The process is helped by rubbing the finer material through the upper sieve with fingertips, much in the same way as you would when sieving flour but a lot rougher on the hands and nails! Pouring water into the upper sieve helps the finer scales to pass through the mesh to be collected on the lower sieve. Once this stage is complete the material in each sieve must be kept separate and dried in order to be sent to a specialist for further analysis.
During the wet sieving of these samples some burnt bone fragments, a copper bead and Roman pottery were found. The pottery sherds include Samian, Black-burninish, and greyware, one piece of which is decorated with an incised design. But perhaps the most intriguing find was a bright green tooth that appears to be human! It is open to debate how the tooth came to be there, but it is likely that the unusual colouring was caused by the copper waste. The tooth and pottery sherds are particularly interesting as they came from an area known to be associated with the earliest Roman fort at the site, dating to the 1st century. We are looking forward to the results from the specialist’s analysis, so watch this space!

Find of the Month-December

2009-12-11T14:57:00.002Z

Roman inscription found amongst the rubble that overlay the Roman building found at the Celtic Manor Golf Resort.

Fascinating discovery on the site of the new Celtic Manor Golf Resort Coach Park

2009-12-11T14:46:00.005Z

As preparations for the Ryder Cup next year move into their final phases the Trust, the archaeologists to Celtic Manor, have made a fascinating discovery on the site of the new coach park. Over the summer we carried out trial excavations, which revealed part of what we thought was the Roman road that runs up the east bank of the River Usk, between the fortress of the Second Augustan Legion at Caerleon, and Usk, the site of an earlier fortress that was replaced by a smaller fort. We had seen this road before, where it passed through the settlement at Bulmore, and were rather surprised that this new section was only lightly metalled. Alongside it was a mass of rubble. As a result of the evaluation, construction went ahead with an archaeological watching brief, during the course of which the rubble turned out to belong to a small building. Construction work on this part of the site halted while we excavated this building and its surroundings.

The building, which had been robbed to its foundations almost everywhere, was nearly square with no traces of internal walls or floors surviving. Just enough of the walls remained to show that it must have measured about 3m x 3m internally. It was built from the local sandstone, and the blocks used in the foundations looked as though they had come from some other building. There was also most of a quernstone that had been abandoned during manufacture, and part of a larger millstone. In the rubble that overlay the building were two pieces of an inscription, with a few letters on each. Fortunately we found that these fit together, and we are now waiting to see whether experts can make sense of what they say.

Immediately outside the entrance was the remains of a lightly-metalled track. It was this that had first been discovered during the watching brief, but we could now see that the real road was 20m further down the hill and much more substantially constructed than the track. In places the road had been terraced into the hillside to keep it level, but the builders had not felt it necessary to provide drainage ditches. The two ran roughly parallel with each other, and we assume that the track must have branched off the road somewhere outside the coach-park area. It was traced over a distance of150m, but we do not know where it was bound.

If we can find out what the inscription says, this will give us a better idea of what the building was for. The two main suggestions at the moment are either that it was something military, an outpost on the main road concerned with sending messages or controlling access to the legion’s pastures, or that it was a monument, perhaps serving as a mausoleum. Its position, about 1km north of Bulmore and clearly visible from Caerleon and other points in the river valley, would have been suitable for either. The other finds may also provide clues when they have been studied. The most interesting are a small mattock of the kind used by the army and a tiny piece of an early Roman ribbed bowl in brown and yellow marbled glass.

Find of the Month-November

2009-11-22T17:57:00.001Z

This coin, found recently near St Donats by Ron Sanders, is thought to be a penny of William I of Scotland, ‘the Lion’ (1165-1214 AD), belonging to Phase B of the Short Cross issue which covers the last years of William’s reign and the posthumous period when Scotland was ruled by William’s son, Alexander III (1214-1249 AD).

William ‘the Lion’ was so called not for his valour, but for replacing the dragon on the arms of Scotland by the lion rampant.

Scottish hammered silver does occur occasionally in South Wales; this is the earliest such example. The reverse is inscribed HVE WALTER, indicating that this coin was minted at Edinburgh or Perth by moneyers Hue (Edinburgh) and Walter (Perth) working jointly.

Find of the Month-September

2009-09-18T15:44:00.001+01:00

This Anglo-Saxon brooch from Port Eynon was found with the aid of a metal detector by Ron Sanders, a member of the Swansea Metal Detecting Club, in the bay at Port Eynon, Gower. It is a example, complete with pin, of a penannular brooch with flattened terminals, belonging to Fowler's Type G which is datable to the 7th-8th century AD.

It can be parallelled with other small native penannular brooches from south west Wales;examples have been found at Tenby and from Linley Burrows, Gower. A brooch of this type was excavated by GGAT at Hen Gastell, a native castle now obliterated by the M4 bridge over the River Neath, in the 1980s, and recently another very small example was recovered from Swansea foreshore by Gary May, another member of the Swansea Metal Detecting Club.

New Church Guides added to help promote the 'Open Doors' event

2009-09-04T14:13:00.003+01:00

Two more Church guides have been added to the 'Open Doors' page on the GGAT website in preparation for this months event.

Why not visit the website and download a guide for your area.

GGAT help to promote the 'Open Doors' events

2009-08-27T10:40:00.004+01:00

Although some of our ancient parish churches are always open, this is not possible for all. Over the last few years, the Church in Wales has been encouraging parishes to take part in the Open Doors events co-ordinated every September by the Civic Trust for Wales . It has its own Open Doors Day on 19th September, and has set up the Churches Tourism Network Wales website where parishes can provide details of when their churches are open to the public.

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, with the support of Cadw, has been working with the dioceses in our area - Llandaff, Monmouth, and Swansea & Brecon - to promote the churches that will be opened to the public in September.

The Trust has produced a series of leaflets to help you plan your church crawl, however, if you're wondering how you are going to visit all of the churches in three dioceses in one day don't worry, as not all the churches will be opened on 19th - some are open instead (or additionally) on other weekends, giving you more time to explore this rich heritage.

Visit http://www.ggat.org.uk/news/news.html to download a pdf version of the Churches to visit in northern Gwent leaflet.

The GGAT Archaeological Extravaganza

2009-07-29T22:06:00.002+01:00

The Trust’s contributions to the Festival of British Archaeology 2009 started with a bang on Saturday 18th July. The Festival is a rebranding of the National Archaeology Week organised by the CBA, which extends this year over two weeks, hence the change in name. However, the only change to our highly popular collaboration with Swansea Museum was that it was bigger and better. We were incredibly lucky with the weather - it didn’t rain once - so the events in the museum garden were able to proceed with a swing. These events were planned with children in mind, but the grown-ups seemed to enjoy them just as much! In the east garden, on the corner with Burrows Place, members of the medieval re-enactment group Meibion y Ddraig were joined by Charles Ferris of the Friends of the Newport Ship who did a roaring business with his medieval mint.

The children’s mystery excavation took place in the Trust’s new tent, which had been set up in the more difficult to find west garden. Sculptor Susanna Ciccotti (head of the Trust’s Illustration Department in the 1990s) had brought her facial reconstruction of a Neanderthal man and explained to visitors how it was produced, before the children tried their hand at modelling their own Neanderthal heads. A new twist on an old favourite was the prehistoric pottery making, which was done as a living history event with the Trust’s Paul Huckfield dressed up as a Bronze Age potter guiding the children through making their own Bronze Age style pots and explaining why all his tools and other paraphernalia were made from wood, stone and basketry. We are grateful to Alan of Systembox, Port Talbot, who supplied the clay for this activity free of charge. Edith Evans’s Roman cookery demonstration included workshops for children to recreate a Roman recipe. We also brought back the do-it-yourself wattle and daub that had been so popular two years ago.

Inside, the Trust provided the usual opportunities to consult the HER and have their finds identified, along with an exhibition which featured the Oystermouth Castle community excavation. Andy Sherman, one of the dig’s directors, was on hand to talk about it and answer questions. The Friends of Oystermouth Castle also had their own stall. Other stalls and exhibitions were provided by were Aberavon Historical Friends, the Friends of the Newport Ship, Gower AONB, Swansea Bay 1940s Museum, Swansea Metal Detecting Club (also featuring detectorist Ron Saunders’ fine collection of flints), Swansea University Extramural Department, West Glamorgan Archive Service and West Glamorgan Family History Group. Talks were given by Gerald Gabb of the museum and Neil Maylan of the Trust. Refreshments were provided by members of the Royal Institution of South Wales. And wandering around was a 1940s Local Defence Volunteer with his bag of tools, checking for gas leaks after air raids.

The official visitor figure for the museum for the day was 1370, a very impressive total. We would like to say a big thank-you to all those who gave up their time to take part. This includes Penny Webb who greeted visitors to the event in medieval costume and made sure they new where everything was, and Nathan, Sam and Steffan who had been on work experience with the Trust the previous week and couldn’t keep away!

The Festival of British Archaeology Comes to Town

2009-07-14T15:32:00.002+01:00

The Annual GGAT Archaeological Extravaganza takes place this Saturday 18th July from 10.30am-4pm at Swansea Musuem, Victoria Road, Swansea, and kicks off GGATs part in the 'Festival of British Archaeology' a 16-day Festival, organised by The Council for British Archaeology.

The aim of this annual event is to encourage everyone, especially young people and their families to visit sites of archaeological/historical interest or museums, heritage and resource centres, to see archaeology in action and to take part in activities on-site. This is a chance for the people of Swansea and its surroundings to find out about their heritage and archaeology of the region.

There will be something for all on the day:

Roman cookery
Mystery excavation
Prehistoric pottery
Medieval archers
Meet a coal miner
Recreate a face from the past

And lots more! So come along and dig in!!

Also, have you ever found an old coin, a piece of worked stone, a metal object or a piece of pottery, and ever wondered what it was? Maybe you found it in your garden, on a beach or while out walking.

Why not bring them along as we will be running an archaeological finds identification roadshow, as all archaeological finds - though initially they might seem unimportant - have the potential to advance archaeological knowledge.

For more information contact: Roger Gale at Swansea Museum or Caroline Thomas at curatorial@ggat.org.uk

Find of the Month-July Post-medieval pipe

2009-07-14T09:16:00.003+01:00

A post-medieval pipe bowl and shank, originally excavated during coal removal in the Ffos y fran opencast, Merthyr Tydfill and transported with the coal to the mixing and grading depot where it was spotted by a sharp-eyed worker.

GGAT pioneer the use of new mobile phone technology at Community Excavation

2009-07-07T16:31:00.004+01:00

If you go down to the community excavation today you’re sure of a big surprise- strange bar codes are popping up all around the site!

These two-dimensional bar codes are being pioneered by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, who are using this new mobile phone technology as part of their outreach initiative at the Oystermouth Castle community excavation. The codes provide the public with location-specific web-hosted audio guides and links so that visitors can view current finds and hear current audio news, and it is hoped in the future, video footage of the excavation.

The bar codes, known as QR codes - QR stands for "Quick Response" - are common in Japan, where they are currently the most popular type of two-dimensional codes. Most current Japanese mobile phones can read this code with their camera. QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about any object that users might need information about.

How does it work?

Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone's browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL.

For more information on QR codes visit Wikipedia

If your phone does not possess a QR reader there are numerous free readers to download on the web.

Swansea’s earliest road discovered

2009-05-26T09:27:00.004+01:00

In March 2009 the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust’s Projects Division recorded a short section of hurdle trackway, which had eroded out of the marine clay on the Swansea foreshore. The site was initially located by Brian Price, a member of the Swansea Metal Detecting Club, who reported his discovery to the Trust’s Portable Antiquities Recording Officer.

The hurdle panel, which formed the trackway, was woven from narrow branches of oak and alder, identified by Astrid Caseldine and Catherine Griffiths of the University of Wales, Lampeter. A simple oak peg had been driven through the hurdle panel into the underlying ground surface to hold the trackway securely in place. The entire structure was covered in a thin layer of brushwood to provide a level walking-surface. A single sample from the trackway was sent to the Beta Analytic Radiocarbon Laboratory in Florida for AMS dating; and was dated to the early Bronze Age (Cal BC 2140 to 1930 (Cal BP 4090 to 3880) with a 2 Sigma Calibration (Beta: 257022)).

During the early Bronze Age the climate was drier and warmer than today and the sea level was significantly lower. The trackway was therefore probably built through a wet, marshy environment. Because it has been eroded by the tide it is impossible to tell whether the entire trackway was composed of hurdles, or whether occasional hurdles were laid to cross particularly wet patches of ground.

Oystermouth Castle Community Excavation

2009-05-06T12:09:00.002+01:00

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, in association with the Friends of Oystermouth Castle, Swansea City Council and Swansea University, will be carrying out a dig in the grounds of Oystermouth Castle between 29th June and 17th July this year (including Saturdays and Sundays), and there will be the opportunity for you to join in.

We will be excavating outside the west tower, looking for the outer wall and the ditch, and on the Knoll, to see what’s there (a geophysical survey commissioned by the Friends suggests that there are walls).

We are looking for volunteers to come and work on the project. You could learn how to excavate, how to record what we discover, or how to deal with the objects that we find. Just download and fill in the application forms and we will fit you into the programme. Volunteers will need to be 18+ to work on the site, but under-18s are welcome to join in the finds work.

If that sounds too strenuous, you are welcome to come and see what we find. Guided tours will be arranged throughout the dig so you can keep abreast of the discoveries.

Booking is essential if you want to volunteer (send in your forms to reach us by 15th June). If you just want to see what’s happening you can turn up at any time for the next tour.

Visit the Oystermouth Castle Excavation page on the GGAT website to download an application form.

Find of the Month-April Barbed and Tanged Arrowhead

2009-04-22T09:44:00.002+01:00

This stunning barbed and tanged arrowhead was recently discovered on farmland at Newton, Swansea, by Jan Davies of the Swansea Metal Detecting Club. The finely pressure flaked arrowhead is triangular in shape, 3cm long by 2cm at its widest and made of grey patinated flint.

Possible iron staining is visible along the right hand edge but this may belong to an older patination, some cortex is also visible (sandy looking spots). One of the two tangs is missing (right), as is the central node between the two crushed notches where it would have possibly been attached to an arrow shaft.

This type of tool is common to the earlier Bronze Age (2800 – 1800 BC), a time when the Beaker Culture was prevalent in south Wales. The Beaker Culture is so called because of elaborately decorated ceramic beakers found in burials. Barbed and tanged arrowheads are sometimes found along with human burials in large earthen round barrows, such as those in the Vale of Glamorgan at Breach Farm, Llyswyrny and at Sutton, Llandow. Many fine barbed and tanged arrowheads were placed with single burials in these round barrows. The fact that this arrowhead does not appear to have come from a burial may indicate it was lost during an activity such as hunting.

GGAT granted Heritage Lottery Funding for community archaeology project

2009-04-08T14:12:00.005+01:00

The Trust is delighted to have received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund in order to carry out a community heritage audit within the communities of New Tredegar and Penrhiwceiber. Through a series of hands-on workshops, members of the community will use the Historic Environment Record to find out what sites are recorded in their community and how they can contribute to the record. Participants will explore the methods archaeologists use to identify new sites as well as receive training in basic archaeological recording methods.

The first session for New Tredegar is being held tonight at the newly opened Winding House Museum and we will keep you updated on the progress of the project.

If you come from New Tredegar or Penrhiwceiber and are interested in taking part in the project, please contact Caroline at GGAT (contact details can be found on our website). Booking is essential.

Archaeological Planning Officer in Welsh learners video

2009-03-20T10:02:00.002Z

GGAT's Archaeological Planning Officer Judith Doyle is featured in a new online video for Welsh learners.

The video was made as part of the new “Pecyn Ymarfer” – Practice Pack for Welsh Speakers and Learners in association with St Fagans National Museum of Welsh Life as part of the new Perthyn Exhibition. It provides explanation of why and how people speak and learn Welsh and to encourage other learners. Full details are available from the St Fagans website and follow links to Perthyn – Belonging.

Roedd y fideo hwn gwneud fel rhan o’r Newydd “Pecyn Ymarfer” – Practice Pack am ddysgwyr Cymraeg a siaradwr – gyda Amgueddfa Werin Cymru yn Sain Ffagan fel rhan o’r arddangosfa newydd Perthyn. Mae’n darparu gwybodaeth yn pham a phryd mae pobl yn siarad a ddysgu yr iaith Cymraeg ac annog ddysgwyr eraill. Mae manylion llawn ar gael o’r wefan Sain Ffagan Sain Ffagan a ddilynwch y linc Perthyn – Belonging.

Timber feature discovered on Swansea foreshore

2009-01-29T15:59:00.003Z

The presence of a small wooden feature located approximately 330m south of the promenade on the Swansea foreshore was reported to Steve Sell, (GGAT’s Portable Antiquities Recording Officer) by Brian Price of the Swansea Metal Detector Club in the summer of 2008.

An initial site visit was conducted by GGAT field-staff with Brian Price on the 6th September 2008 during which the feature was tentatively identified as a short section of hurdle, and that a funding grant should be made to Cadw to enable further investigation of the feature. Cadw authorised a grant for the work to be carried out in early 2009 and a small team from GGAT Projects conducted a rescue excavation at the beginning of this month.

Working within a narrow tidal window the feature was cleaned, positively identified as a short section of hurdle, photographed and drawn. The six largest timbers from the hurdle where recovered for detailed post-excavation study, AMS dating and species identification. It is hoped that the AMS dating (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) will return a date during the Iron Age and thus be comparably to features recorded on the Brynmill Peat Shelf in 1992.

Currently two interpretations of the feature are postulated, firstly that it represents the remains of a fallen hurdle leader fence, used for guiding fish into single-basket, tidal fish-trap; secondly that it represents the remains of a hurdle trackway used to cross a particularly marshy piece of ground.

2009 Archaeology Festival

2009-01-09T11:11:00.002Z

Come and visit GGAT at the 2009 Archaeology Festival being held in Cardiff over the weekend of 7-8 February.

The 2009 Archaeology Festival hosted by Current Archaeology and this year in conjunction with Cardiff University and the National Museum, Wales is the UK's biggest and most popular archaeology conference. The GGAT stand will bring you right up to date with recent work undertaken by the Trust, you will have the opportunity to investigate the archaeology of the Southeast Wales area with our interactive Historic Ennvironment Record and GGAT's friendly staff will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

To book tickets and to find further details please visit the Current Archaeology website.

Recent investergations on Merthyr Common, Ffos-y-Fran

2008-12-08T11:03:00.002Z

Recent investigations at Ffos-y-fran have identified the remains of three rectangular structures believed to be a part of the remains of the 19th century Penydarren Brickworks, adjacent to the Sarn Howell Pond. The two eastern buildings are aligned east to west and are roughly comparable in size (c7.5m x 4.5m), whilst the western building is only partially exposed. All three buildings form part of the brick manufacturing process from the preparation of the raw material through to moulding/setting, drying and firing. The brickworks is likely to have served the Penydarren Colliery, including buildings associated with its incline tramroad to the GWR line at Cwm-bargoed and numerous small scale local industrial concerns. The brickworks is thought to have had a comparatively short life since it is shown in use on the OS 2nd Ed map (1901) but retired by the publication of the OS 3rd Ed map (1920).

During the evaluation of an area to the south of the site on the edge of the Taff-bargoed Valley we have discovered a large mound or cairn of stones directly beneath the topsoil. The cairn appears to contain a centralised rectangular arrangement of inverted stones, which may be a Bronze Age burial mound. However, further investigation is needed to prove its provenance. Bronze Age round barrow cairns are a type of monument which can be found broadly distributed on the nearby Gelligaer Common. For more information on cairns visit the Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Sites in Southeast Wales project pages on the GGAT website http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/fun_rit/english/cairn.html

In an area adjacent to the supposed cairn, several features have been identified, which include a possible cremation burial. A small quantity of burnt bone was recovered from a shallow pit that was surrounded by an area of burning. Although highly probable as a burial, the recovery of worked pieces of flint in the immediate vicinity along with more evidence of burning may indicate that this is food waste rather than funerary in origin.