Over large parts of Cardigan island and clearly visible on aerial photographs are cultivation remains in the form of plough furrows. The majority of these are evenly spaced roughly 3.1m apart and run on an NNW ? SSE alignment, appearing to be aligned with bank (NPRN 309339) a feature, possibly prehistoric in date that crosses and divides the island. On sloping ground in the north-east corner of the island there is a further block of ridge and furrow, more widely spaced and terraced in appearance and curving downslope around an area of higher ground. The cultivation also respects both of the islands settlements of prehistoric origin (NPRNs 309338 and 309340).

Records for the island dating as far back as the 13th century predominately refer to its use as pasture. The furrows are mentioned in an article in `Y Brython? in 1860 and possibly relate to a period of cultivation in the first half of the nineteenth century, during a period of known expansion of agriculture onto marginal lands, although no documentation survives for this. It cannot be discounted that the remains might be prehistoric in date, one of the few surviving examples and paralleled most closely with Skomer Island.

Louise Barker, RCAHMW, June 2015

Sources
Y Brython vol. III, pg 115 `Ynys Aberteifi? a letter to the editor (Tremadog, 1860).
Brewers P., 1993 Cardigan Island: A survey. Unpublished B. A. Dissertation submitted to the Department of Archaeology, St David's University College, Lampeter.
Brewers P., 1994 Cardigan Island, Y Ferwig (SN 161 515). Archaeology in Wales 34, 3-6.