NAR SH68SW3

Site of a later Prehistoric type roundhouse set on the summit of a limestone ridge overlooking the sea on the Penmon peninsular, excavated in advance of quarrying in 1932. Of two other apparent roundhouse sites one was shown to be a natural feature and the other was not investigated. A short stretch of wall was joined to the roundhouse. The site is now utterly destroyed.
The roundhouse was 4.5-4.7m internal diameter and was defined by a stone wall from 1.6m to 2.4m wide with an east facing entrance. The ground fell steeply away on the south side. Inside there was a central socket or posthole and a 'bed' against the wall on the south-east side was defined by slabs. There was no obvious hearth site.
A saddle quern was found with a pounding stone beside the 'bed' and a number of other pounders and various other stone tools were also found within the hut, as were an iron gouge and a small laminated iron sickle.
The most remarkable aspect of the site was the large number of seashells and heat-cracked stones or potboilers. The latter occured in very large numbers both inside and out, whilst the shells were found in a discrete midden inside the door and in a broad band outside on the northern wall, filling a 1.3m deep rock-cut pit on the west. The shells in the pit were almost all mussel whilst winkles and limpets dominated the inside midden.
The sickle was tentatively dated to the Roman period. It is tempting to assign a specialist use to the building, although the deposition of shells and potboilers may have occurred after the house fell out of use. Pot boilers were used to heat water for cooking and for saunas.
The roundhouse may be associated with the old field boundaries and cultivation terraces that occur across Penmon Park (see NPRN 302861).

Sources: Phillips in Archaeologia Cambrensis 87 (1932), 247-59
RCAHM Anglesey Inventory (1937), 128

John Wiles 14.08.07