Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd
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Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd ANGOR UNIVERSITY Excavations, July 2012 Karl, Raimund; Waddington, Kate Published: 01/01/2015 PRIFYSGOL BANGOR / B Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Cyswllt i'r cyhoeddiad / Link to publication Dyfyniad o'r fersiwn a gyhoeddwyd / Citation for published version (APA): Karl, R., & Waddington, K. (2015). Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd Excavations, July 2012: Interim report. (Bangor Studies in Archaeology; Vol. 11). Bangor University. 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Oct. 2020 Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd Excavations, July 2012 Interim Report Kate Waddington and Raimund Karl Bangor: Gwynedd, December 2015 Bangor Studies in Archaeology Report No. 11 Bangor Studies in Archaeology Report No. 11 Also available in this series: Report No. 1: R. Karl and H. Butler 2009. Moel y Gaer Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd. Excavations, Summer 2009. Preliminary Report. Report No. 2: K. Waddington 2010. Excavations at Meillionydd 2010: Characterising the double ringwork enclosures on the Llŷn Peninsula. Report No. 3: R. Karl and I. Brown 2010. Caer Drewyn and its environs. Survey and desktop analyses, 2009-2010. Preliminary Report. Report No. 4: K. Waddington and R. Karl 2010. The Meillionydd Project: Characterising the double ringwork enclosures in Gwynedd. Preliminary Excavation Report. Report No. 5: I. Brown and R. Karl 2011. Caer Drewyn and its Environs. Site surveys and analyses 2010-2011. Excavations at Moel Fodig hillfort, August 2011. Interim Report. Report No. 6: R. Karl and K. Waddington 2011. Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd. Excavations, July 2011. Preliminary Report. Report No. 7: S. Morton Williams, K. Möller, I. Brown and R. Karl 2012. Hillforts of North Wales: Moel Fodig. Excavations 2011-2012. Interim Report. Report No. 8: R. Karl, B. Burin, Z. Frana, V. Gufler, J. Hörhan, A. Medek, T. Rechberger, K. Rokita, T. Trausmuth, S. Unterweger, A. Vonkilch and M. Wallner 2014. Archäologische Interessen der österreichischen Bevölkerung. Bericht und Analyse einer Umfrage, November 2013 – Jänner 2014. Report No. 9: R. Karl 2015. Meinungsbilder zum Barbarenschatz-Urteil. Bericht und Analyse einer Umfrage, März 2015. Report No. 10: K. Waddington and R. Karl 2015. Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd. Excavations, July 2011. Stratigraphic Report. Cover image: The stone roundhouse set into the body of the outer bank in trench 2 © 2015 The Authors Published by: Bangor University School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology College Road Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 The objectives of the 2012 excavations .................................................................................................. 1 The excavations: preliminary results ....................................................................................................... 6 Trench 1 West extension ..................................................................................................................... 7 Trench 2 west extension ................................................................................................................... 19 Preliminary conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 23 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 25 References ............................................................................................................................................. 25 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 27 Small Finds Register ........................................................................................................................... 27 Sample Register ................................................................................................................................. 29 3 This research was funded by: This project was carried out in collaboration with: Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd Excavations, July 2012. Preliminary Report Introduction Meillionydd is a ‘double ringwork’ enclosure dating to the first millennium BC. It is located near the village of Rhiw (NGR SH21902905), on the south-western end of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, northwest Wales (Figure 1). A detailed location description and site description has already been provided in a previous report (Waddington and Karl 2010, 4-5) and thus will not be repeated in detail. The overall research context and objectives for this project have already been outlined in previous reports (Waddington 2010; Waddington and Karl 2010, 3-4; Karl and Waddington 2011). The interim report for the 2010 excavations (Waddington and Karl 2010) and the 2011 excavations (Waddington and Karl 2015) also provide detailed stratigraphic report for the various trenches that were opened in those first two excavation seasons. Figure 1: Map of the Llŷn Peninsula, showing the location of the site as well as all other later prehistoric hillfort and settlement sites in the area. The double ringwork enclosures are shown in purple circles, hillforts are shown in red stars and roundhouse settlements are shown in black dots (image: K. Waddington). The objectives of the 2012 excavations This third excavation season aimed to reopen and extend trench 1 west extension with trench 2 west extension which were opened in 2011, to form one large trench, c. 12m by 24m. A 1m-wide bulk was preserved in the upper middle part of the trench, which served to divide the area containing the large house set into the outer quarry hollow and outer bank in Trench 2 west extension, from the 1 K.Waddington and R. Karl inner bank deposits and house in trench 1 west extension. This working bulk was removed in a later season (2013). An additional 1m-wide bulk was preserved over the outer bank in the lower part of trench 2 west extension, just behind the roundhouse. This was also removed in the excavation season in 2013. The overall objectives were to continue to collect data on the construction and phasing of the enclosure boundaries and buildings and to produce more datable materials to build up a chronological sequence for these monuments in Gwynedd. The large trench aimed to: expose and excavate the whole substantial (estimated c. 8-9 meter diameter) stone roundhouse already partially exposed and excavated in 2011 in trench 2 west extension; assess the continuation of the quarry hollow and the earlier u-shaped ditch (identified in trench 1 in 2010) in the newly opened area, and assess whether an entrance through the outer bank exists to the north of the roundhouse in trench 2 west extension; expose and excavate the outer bank at the east end of trench 2 west extension; continue to trace the inner bank identified in trench 1 and 1 west extension and establish whether an in-turned entranceway through the inner bank exists in the newly extended area; partially re-open and complete the excavations of the inner roundhouse exposed and excavated in trenches 1 and 1 West extension in 2010 and 2011; Figure 2: Geophysical survey of Meillionydd, showing (in blue) the position of the trench planned for the 2012 season (adapted from Smith and Hopewell 2007, fig 11). The 2011 trenches are shown in bright green, and the 2010 trenches are shown in red. The topographic survey and the ground penetrating radar survey A topographic survey was also carried out on the site during the excavations in 2012, and the Digital Terrain Model is presented in Figure 3, which was produced by Mario Wallner. This model was 2 Characterising the Double Ringwork Enclosures of Gwynedd: Meillionydd Excavations, July 2012. Preliminary Report produced in Arc-map and the positions of the trenches excavated between 2010-2012 is accurately. The main structural features of the excavations are presented within the trench through 3D photographs (produced via Agi Soft Photo Scan Standard Edition for creating 3D renderings). Figure 3: Digital terrain model of the site, using data from a topographic survey carried out in 2012 and presented using hillside effect. 3D photographs of the main features within each excavation area are positioned accurately over the image in Arc GIS (image: Mario Wallner). The image clearly demonstrates the slighted nature of