Dinas Powys hillfort
Encyclopedia
The Dinas Powys hill fort is an Iron Age
hill fort
located in Cwrt-yr-Ala Park, a half-a-mile north of the village of Dinas Powys
in Glamorgan
, south Wales
. It is just one of several thousand hillforts
to have been constructed around Britain
during the British Iron Age
, for reasons that are still debatable. The main fort at Dinas Powys was constructed on the northernmost point of the hill in either the third or 2nd century BCE, with two further constructs, known as the Southern Banks, being built further down on the southern end of the hill in the following 1st century BCE. It appears that occupation at the site ceased during the period of Roman Britain
, but was re-inhabited by an Early Mediaeval settlement in the 5th century CE, who constructed further additions to the fort. The site was subsequently excavated by a team of archaeologists
led by Leslie Alcock
from 1954 through to 1958.
The hill fort, which was called the dinas by Welsh
speaking locals, is probably the reason why the neighbouring village was named Dinas Powys, and archaeologists excavating the site in the mid 20th century decided to rename the hill fort after the settlement, with excavator Leslie Alcock remarking that "it therefore seemed appropriate by a kind of back-formation to restore the village name to" the fortifications.
, a county borough
at the southernmost tip of Wales that geologically comprises predominantly Lias limestone in the south and Carboniferous limestone
in the north. The eastern end in particular "is dissected into flat-topped, steep-sided ridges and hills by deep and narrow river valleys, so that in detail the relief of the south-east Glamorgan is a tangle of minor [landscape] features." The hill fort was constructed on one such of these geographical features, a whale-back hill that is just over a quarter of a mile in length. The fort was built on the northerly tip of the whale-back hill, the highest and narrowest point of the vicinity. It had "no visible defences; but on the west side there is a single bank, on the east two banks, while the southern approach is barred by no fewer than four ramparts." It was located near to the harbour at the estuary of the River Ely
, which would have been an important entry point for trade in later prehistory: there is certainly evidence for its use as a harbour in the Early and Middle Bronze Age
, several centuries prior to the hill fort's initial construction.
, at some point in the third or 2nd century BCE. It was evidently settled by a community at this time, as is evidenced by large quantities of Iron Age pottery at the site. There are also several postholes that have been excavated inside the fort, indicating that there may well have been buildings constructed inside of it at this period. Phase Two of Dinas Powys began construction in the Late Iron Age, during the 1st century BCE, and saw the building of the two Southern Banks, which were located on the southern end of the hill, away from the main fort. According to excavator Leslie Alcock, these two defences did not appear to have ever been completed, for instance there was no evidence that a gateway was ever built between them, something which would have meant the banks were of little use ina defensive situation.
Throughout much of the 20th century, archaeologists thought that hill forts were constructed to be defensive structures in a society that was dominated by warfare, or the threat of warfare between different tribal groups. Indeed, excavator Leslie Alcock remarked that the main Dinas Powys fort was "heavily defended", but that the Southern Banks were far less defensible.
In the 1st century CE, southern Britain was conquered and absorbed into the Roman Empire
, leading to the period of Roman Britain
, when Roman and native Iron Age British culture merged into something Romano-British. This period would last until the 4th century, when the Roman armies left Britain. During this period, the Vale of Glamorgan saw "intensive settlement", with the construction of at least three Roman villas in the local area, each presumably with its own agricultural estate. During this Romano-British period, it is debatable whether the Dinas Powys hill fort continued to be occupied, for no major features were constructed on the site, and only a small amount of Romano-British artefacts have been uncovered there, whereas other local settlement sites in the Vale of Glamorgan contain far greater quantities of Romano-British artefacts. As Alcock noted, "Seen in its local context, the Phase 3 [i.e. Romano-British] material can scarcely amount to a Romano-British occupation of the site."
era, that which the excavators referred to as the "Early Christian
period". Dating to the 5th and 6th centuries CE, this saw the construction of Phase Four of the site, which saw at least two buildings, possibly made out of stone rather than wood, being built within the fort. Archaeologists interpreted one of these, House I, as being a hall that was lived in by the local lord and his family, whilst House II "was probably therefore a store-house or barn, though it is not improbable that servants or labourers and their families slept there."
Phase Four also saw the construction of a number of hearth
s within the fort, some of which "were industrial rather than domestic", suggesting that the site was being used for production of metal goods as well as, or rather than settlement. Examining the remnants of these hearths, excavators came to the conclusion that there was both a blacksmith and a jeweller active on the site, and that these skilled craftsmen were likely migrants from Ireland
who had come to the area looking for work, where the lord of Dinas Powys had employed them.
It was amongst some of these hearths that excavators found the burial of a human child approximately five years old, which they believe dates to this period, and that "Slight though the grave was, the body had obviously been laid out with care. It recalls the burials found within, or immediately adjacent to, Romano-British settlements, and clearly looks back to native, pre-Christian traditions" despite probably being a Christian burial. There was also much refuse produced by the Early Mediaeval individuals living at the fort, leading to the depositing of this rubbish in several large rubbish pits (midden
s) along the eastern end of the site; the sheer volume of this rubbish led Alcock to state in 1963 that it was "the largest assemblage of Early Christian material so far recovered in Wales and the Marches."
"To judge from the archaeological material which has been recovered, the main basis of the Dinas Powys economy [in the Early Mediaeval] was stock-raising", primarily of cattle, sheep and sheep. Unusually for the area however, it appears from the excavated animal bones that most of the livestock was slaughtered before they were capable of reproduction, something indicating that - with the exception of the pigs - the numbers of livestock would not be sustainable unless new imports were being regularly brought in from elsewhere. As well as eating such meat, the inhabitants of Dinas Powys hill fort apparently ate bread
, as rotary querns
used for grinding grain, likely locally grown, were found at the site. "A subsidiary role in the Dinas Powys economy was played by metalworking", and it was the produce from both the livestock and metalworking that the elite traded in order to gain access to luxury goods - such as wine, oil and pottery - from elsewhere around the Irish Sea
and even from southern Europe.
, in which the Norman
-dominated English monarchy occupied Wales, it appears that Dinas Powys continued to be used. The Norman phase of construction and settlement, which took place in the 11th and 12th centuries CE, and which is known as Phase 5, involved the construction of Banks 1, 3 and 4, greatly making the site more defensive. As Alcock noted, "The defences of Phase 5 were clearly well contrived and laboriously constructed." A further wave of construction, known as Phase 6, took place later in the Norman era. Remarking as to the fort's usage in this period, which saw further defensification, Alcock noted that the "more likely explanation is that the Dinas Powys ring-work was not a fortified residence; it was a military strong-point, occupied only at times of need, perhapy by a tented garrison".
's one inch map, where it was referred to as Beili Castell, a name which, according to Alcock, "appears to have no real justification." It was subsequently omitted from several later OS maps.
, who would later go on to excavate the prominent hill fort of Maiden Castle, Dorset
, then referred to the Dinas Powys site in the 1921-23 Bulletin of the newly founded Board of Celtic Studies. Wheeler himself took a particular interest in the monument, producing the first accurate plan of the fort for the National Museum of Wales.
An actual project designed to excavate the hill fort was developed by professors at the newly founded archaeology department of University College, Cardiff in the mid 1950s. In 1953, archaeologists Sir Cyril Fox
, Dr V.E. Nash-Williams and Dr H.N. Savoy examined a variety of sites in southern Wales to decide which would be the best training site for the university's students, and eventually came to the conclusion that the Dinas Powys hill fort would be best. After gaining permission to excavate from Sir Herbert Merrett of the Cwrt-yr-Ala Estate Company and the Forestry Commission
(the owners and tenants of the land respectively), and getting a small monetary grant from the Board of Celtic Studies, excavation began in January 1954. The excavations continued for four years, till 1958, mostly at weekends in spring and early summer, and also at Easter
from 1954 through to 1957, and during July–August 1958. Following the financial support of the Board of Celtic Studies, grants were later made for the excavation by Glamorgan County Council, the Cambrian Archaeological Association
, the British Academy
, the Haverfield Trustees and the Society of Antiquaries
. Most of the work was undertaken by volunteers, namely students from University College Cambridge, as well as from community archaeological societies both from Wales and from the rest of Britain. For the back-filling however, manual workmen were employed due to the more physical nature of the labour. The excavators decided to leave certain areas unexcavated, stating that "Sufficient areas have been left unexcavated for future workers to have some chance of testing both the observation of facts and the hypotheses presented [in their conclusions]."
One of the head excavators, Leslie Alcock
subsequently published a book on the hill fort, entitled Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age and Early Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan, through the University of Wales Press
in 1963. One reviewer of Alcock's work, P.V. Addyman, writing in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, remarked that the book, which was "excellently produced by the University Press, goes beyond the normal scope of an excavation report and reviews the considerable implications of these discoveries; implications which, in the Dark Age phases at least, affect the whole of the Irish Sea culture province."
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
located in Cwrt-yr-Ala Park, a half-a-mile north of the village of Dinas Powys
Dinas Powys
Dinas Powys is a large village and a community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales which takes its name from the Dinas Powys hillfort that dates from the Iron Age...
in Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
, south Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is just one of several thousand hillforts
Hillforts in Britain
Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic period, with a few also dating to the later Bronze Age, British hill forts were primarily constructed during the Iron Age...
to have been constructed around Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the British Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
, for reasons that are still debatable. The main fort at Dinas Powys was constructed on the northernmost point of the hill in either the third or 2nd century BCE, with two further constructs, known as the Southern Banks, being built further down on the southern end of the hill in the following 1st century BCE. It appears that occupation at the site ceased during the period of Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, but was re-inhabited by an Early Mediaeval settlement in the 5th century CE, who constructed further additions to the fort. The site was subsequently excavated by a team of archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
led by Leslie Alcock
Leslie Alcock
Leslie Alcock was Professor of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, and one of the leading archaeologists of Early Mediaeval Britain. His major excavations included Dinas Powys hill fort in Wales, Cadbury Castle, South Cadbury in Somerset and a series of major hillforts in Scotland.-Early...
from 1954 through to 1958.
The hill fort, which was called the dinas by Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
speaking locals, is probably the reason why the neighbouring village was named Dinas Powys, and archaeologists excavating the site in the mid 20th century decided to rename the hill fort after the settlement, with excavator Leslie Alcock remarking that "it therefore seemed appropriate by a kind of back-formation to restore the village name to" the fortifications.
History
Dinas Powys hill fort is located on the eastern end of the Vale of GlamorganVale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
, a county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
at the southernmost tip of Wales that geologically comprises predominantly Lias limestone in the south and Carboniferous limestone
Carboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
in the north. The eastern end in particular "is dissected into flat-topped, steep-sided ridges and hills by deep and narrow river valleys, so that in detail the relief of the south-east Glamorgan is a tangle of minor [landscape] features." The hill fort was constructed on one such of these geographical features, a whale-back hill that is just over a quarter of a mile in length. The fort was built on the northerly tip of the whale-back hill, the highest and narrowest point of the vicinity. It had "no visible defences; but on the west side there is a single bank, on the east two banks, while the southern approach is barred by no fewer than four ramparts." It was located near to the harbour at the estuary of the River Ely
River Ely
The River Ely is a river in South Wales flowing generally south east, from Tonyrefail to the capital city of Cardiff.-Course of the river:...
, which would have been an important entry point for trade in later prehistory: there is certainly evidence for its use as a harbour in the Early and Middle Bronze Age
Bronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain refers to the period of British history that spanned from c. 2,500 until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the era of Iron Age Britain...
, several centuries prior to the hill fort's initial construction.
Iron Age and Romano-British periods
Phase One at the Dinas Powys site, which comprised purely of the hill fort on the northernmost tip of the hill, began construction during the Iron AgeBritish Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
, at some point in the third or 2nd century BCE. It was evidently settled by a community at this time, as is evidenced by large quantities of Iron Age pottery at the site. There are also several postholes that have been excavated inside the fort, indicating that there may well have been buildings constructed inside of it at this period. Phase Two of Dinas Powys began construction in the Late Iron Age, during the 1st century BCE, and saw the building of the two Southern Banks, which were located on the southern end of the hill, away from the main fort. According to excavator Leslie Alcock, these two defences did not appear to have ever been completed, for instance there was no evidence that a gateway was ever built between them, something which would have meant the banks were of little use ina defensive situation.
Throughout much of the 20th century, archaeologists thought that hill forts were constructed to be defensive structures in a society that was dominated by warfare, or the threat of warfare between different tribal groups. Indeed, excavator Leslie Alcock remarked that the main Dinas Powys fort was "heavily defended", but that the Southern Banks were far less defensible.
In the 1st century CE, southern Britain was conquered and absorbed into the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, leading to the period of Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, when Roman and native Iron Age British culture merged into something Romano-British. This period would last until the 4th century, when the Roman armies left Britain. During this period, the Vale of Glamorgan saw "intensive settlement", with the construction of at least three Roman villas in the local area, each presumably with its own agricultural estate. During this Romano-British period, it is debatable whether the Dinas Powys hill fort continued to be occupied, for no major features were constructed on the site, and only a small amount of Romano-British artefacts have been uncovered there, whereas other local settlement sites in the Vale of Glamorgan contain far greater quantities of Romano-British artefacts. As Alcock noted, "Seen in its local context, the Phase 3 [i.e. Romano-British] material can scarcely amount to a Romano-British occupation of the site."
Settlement and subsistence
A new period of occupation at the hill fort began in the post-Roman, Early MediaevalMedieval Wales
Medieval Wales may refer to:*Wales in the Early Middle Ages*Wales in the High Middle Ages*Wales in the Late Middle Ages-See also:*Medieval Britain *Kingdom of Cornwall...
era, that which the excavators referred to as the "Early Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
period". Dating to the 5th and 6th centuries CE, this saw the construction of Phase Four of the site, which saw at least two buildings, possibly made out of stone rather than wood, being built within the fort. Archaeologists interpreted one of these, House I, as being a hall that was lived in by the local lord and his family, whilst House II "was probably therefore a store-house or barn, though it is not improbable that servants or labourers and their families slept there."
Phase Four also saw the construction of a number of hearth
Hearth
In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...
s within the fort, some of which "were industrial rather than domestic", suggesting that the site was being used for production of metal goods as well as, or rather than settlement. Examining the remnants of these hearths, excavators came to the conclusion that there was both a blacksmith and a jeweller active on the site, and that these skilled craftsmen were likely migrants from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
who had come to the area looking for work, where the lord of Dinas Powys had employed them.
It was amongst some of these hearths that excavators found the burial of a human child approximately five years old, which they believe dates to this period, and that "Slight though the grave was, the body had obviously been laid out with care. It recalls the burials found within, or immediately adjacent to, Romano-British settlements, and clearly looks back to native, pre-Christian traditions" despite probably being a Christian burial. There was also much refuse produced by the Early Mediaeval individuals living at the fort, leading to the depositing of this rubbish in several large rubbish pits (midden
Midden
A midden, is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics , and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation...
s) along the eastern end of the site; the sheer volume of this rubbish led Alcock to state in 1963 that it was "the largest assemblage of Early Christian material so far recovered in Wales and the Marches."
"To judge from the archaeological material which has been recovered, the main basis of the Dinas Powys economy [in the Early Mediaeval] was stock-raising", primarily of cattle, sheep and sheep. Unusually for the area however, it appears from the excavated animal bones that most of the livestock was slaughtered before they were capable of reproduction, something indicating that - with the exception of the pigs - the numbers of livestock would not be sustainable unless new imports were being regularly brought in from elsewhere. As well as eating such meat, the inhabitants of Dinas Powys hill fort apparently ate bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
, as rotary querns
Quern
Quern is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany....
used for grinding grain, likely locally grown, were found at the site. "A subsidiary role in the Dinas Powys economy was played by metalworking", and it was the produce from both the livestock and metalworking that the elite traded in order to gain access to luxury goods - such as wine, oil and pottery - from elsewhere around the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
and even from southern Europe.
Defence
There was also apparently attempts to build further defences for the site in this period, as archaeologists believe that one of the ditches and banks around the site, which they referred to as Ditch II and Bank II, were constructed in this century, because they "differ significantly" from the other ditches and banks (which are known to be Late Mediaeval in date), being poorly constructed in comparison to them. Excavator Leslie Alcock remarked on the relatively poor defensive qualities of the hill fort during the 5th century, remarking that:- The slightness of these defences may seem out of keeping with the evidence to be adduced for the richness and importance of Dinas Powys in the Early Christian period, but is not inconsistent with other evidence from Welsh sites defended in late [fourth] and succeeding centuries. As Dinas EmrysDinas EmrysDinas Emrys is a rocky and wooded hillock near Beddgelert in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Rising some 250 ft above the floor of the Glaslyn river valley, it overlooks the southern end of Llyn Dinas in Snowdonia. Little remains of the castle structures that once stood here, save its stone...
, for instance, a position of great natural strength was chosen, but the defensive wall was only some 8 to 10 feet wide. At Carreg-y-Ilam the enclosure walls had similar dimensions.
Late Mediaeval period
Following the Norman invasion of WalesNorman invasion of Wales
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright...
, in which the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
-dominated English monarchy occupied Wales, it appears that Dinas Powys continued to be used. The Norman phase of construction and settlement, which took place in the 11th and 12th centuries CE, and which is known as Phase 5, involved the construction of Banks 1, 3 and 4, greatly making the site more defensive. As Alcock noted, "The defences of Phase 5 were clearly well contrived and laboriously constructed." A further wave of construction, known as Phase 6, took place later in the Norman era. Remarking as to the fort's usage in this period, which saw further defensification, Alcock noted that the "more likely explanation is that the Dinas Powys ring-work was not a fortified residence; it was a military strong-point, occupied only at times of need, perhapy by a tented garrison".
Modern period
In the 19th century, the hillfort appeared on the first edition of the Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
's one inch map, where it was referred to as Beili Castell, a name which, according to Alcock, "appears to have no real justification." It was subsequently omitted from several later OS maps.
Excavation
The first time that archaeologists took an interest in the monument was in 1913, when it was referred to as "a British camp in the woods of Cwrt-yr-Alta" by a Mrs H. Lewis in a 1913 edition of the Archaeologica Cambrensis. The noted archaeologist Mortimer WheelerMortimer Wheeler
Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...
, who would later go on to excavate the prominent hill fort of Maiden Castle, Dorset
Maiden Castle, Dorset
Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age...
, then referred to the Dinas Powys site in the 1921-23 Bulletin of the newly founded Board of Celtic Studies. Wheeler himself took a particular interest in the monument, producing the first accurate plan of the fort for the National Museum of Wales.
An actual project designed to excavate the hill fort was developed by professors at the newly founded archaeology department of University College, Cardiff in the mid 1950s. In 1953, archaeologists Sir Cyril Fox
Cyril Fox
Sir Cyril Fred Fox , born, Chippenham, Wiltshire, was an English archaeologist.Cyril Fox became keeper of archaeology at the National Museum of Wales...
, Dr V.E. Nash-Williams and Dr H.N. Savoy examined a variety of sites in southern Wales to decide which would be the best training site for the university's students, and eventually came to the conclusion that the Dinas Powys hill fort would be best. After gaining permission to excavate from Sir Herbert Merrett of the Cwrt-yr-Ala Estate Company and the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
(the owners and tenants of the land respectively), and getting a small monetary grant from the Board of Celtic Studies, excavation began in January 1954. The excavations continued for four years, till 1958, mostly at weekends in spring and early summer, and also at Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
from 1954 through to 1957, and during July–August 1958. Following the financial support of the Board of Celtic Studies, grants were later made for the excavation by Glamorgan County Council, the Cambrian Archaeological Association
Cambrian Archaeological Association
The Cambrian Archaeological Association was founded in 1846 to examine, preserve and illustrate the ancient monuments and remains of the history, language, manners, customs, arts and industries of Wales and the Welsh Marches and to educate the public in such matters.Its activities include holding...
, the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, the Haverfield Trustees and the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
. Most of the work was undertaken by volunteers, namely students from University College Cambridge, as well as from community archaeological societies both from Wales and from the rest of Britain. For the back-filling however, manual workmen were employed due to the more physical nature of the labour. The excavators decided to leave certain areas unexcavated, stating that "Sufficient areas have been left unexcavated for future workers to have some chance of testing both the observation of facts and the hypotheses presented [in their conclusions]."
One of the head excavators, Leslie Alcock
Leslie Alcock
Leslie Alcock was Professor of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, and one of the leading archaeologists of Early Mediaeval Britain. His major excavations included Dinas Powys hill fort in Wales, Cadbury Castle, South Cadbury in Somerset and a series of major hillforts in Scotland.-Early...
subsequently published a book on the hill fort, entitled Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age and Early Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan, through the University of Wales Press
University of Wales Press
The University of Wales Press was founded in 1922 as a central service of the University of Wales. It publishes academic journals and around sixty books a year in the English and Welsh languages, based around a core of six subjects: History; Political Philosophy and Religious Studies;Welsh and...
in 1963. One reviewer of Alcock's work, P.V. Addyman, writing in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, remarked that the book, which was "excellently produced by the University Press, goes beyond the normal scope of an excavation report and reviews the considerable implications of these discoveries; implications which, in the Dark Age phases at least, affect the whole of the Irish Sea culture province."