The Pembrokeshire Coastal Survey of 1996 (Murphy 1996) identified the need for regular monitoring of archaeological remains along the coast both to record on-going erosion of know sites as well as to identify newly eroded sites. In 2003, as part of a wider programme of archaeological monitoring of beaches in Pembrokeshire, prehistoric peat deposits were recorded at Frainslake Sands, their position recorded at low tide by navigation grade Global Positioning System (GPS). Six deposits were recorded (PRNs 48118, 48119, 48120, 48121, 48122, 48123), the largest of which contained an antler pick (PRN 48132) (Crane 2003). It is thought that these peat deposits may also represent an earlier recorded expanse of peat which produced a large number of flint implements, including a number of microliths of Mesolithic date. This peat reportedly contained gorse, birch, hazel and alder together with charcoal, and it is suggested that it is likely to be late Mesolithic in date c4000 BC (Jacobi 1980, 174)

As part of the continued monitoring of peat deposits on the beach and to provide a future framework for monitoring the site, RCAHMW at the request of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park archaeologist visited the site at low tide in September 2005 with Cambria Archaeology. A newly exposed deposit of peat some 84m in length was recorded (SR 88878 97602) and a monitoring framework put in place using a Leica System 500 GPS with co-ordinates calibrated to the National Grid (OSGB36).

Crane P 2003 Archaeological Monitoring of the Intertidal and Coastal Zone Pembrokeshire. Unpublished Cambria Archaeology report for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Jacobi RM 1980 The Early Holocene Settlement of Wales, in Taylor AJ (ed) Culture and Environment in Prehistoric Wales BAR British Series 76

Murphy K 1996 Pembrokeshire Coastal Survey. Unpublished report for Cadw. Copy and archive held by Cambria Archaeology

Louise Barker, RCAHMW, 1 December 2005