1. Field systems between the Wick and Welsh Way fill a dry valley, dominated by tall outcrops to the north and south and open to prevailing coastal winds which funnel in from The Wick from west?east. The field boundaries which cross this valley were possibly laid out on the pre-existing coaxial grid (NPRN 415557). The round barrow (NPRN 415714) is not the only feature which visibly pre-dates these fields. A later boundary swerves around a poorly defined 25m diameter platform (NPRN 415713), potentially the site of a timber domestic structure or even an Early Bronze Age monument which might have partnered the barrow. There is further complexity in this area: the most visited roundhouse on Skomer, Hut 20 (NPRN 415556), was apparently avoided by a later north'south boundary; just to the east a small round house has been slighted and built over by a wall. The way the field systems and presumed prehistoric cultivation ridges to the west form a neat but irregular line around unenclosed ground is crucial negative evidence. Perhaps this was the site of a stand of managed woodland that supported the community who farmed at The Wick.

O Davis, RCAHMW, 10 Jan 2012

2. In 2012 as part of the Skomer Island Project, geophysical survey was undertaken to evaluate the preservation of sub-surface archaeological features within areas of prehistoric relict field systems and settlements,. An area 0.96 hectares in extent was focussed on The Wick around the diameter platform (NPRN 415713 SM 72741 08853), round barrow (NPRN 415714) and part of the field systems.

Twenty four 20m x 20m grid squares were surveyed using a fluxgate gradiometer and twelve 20m x 20m grid squares using a resistance meter. The obvious archaeological features revealed on the survey were relict field boundaries and cultivation ridges with other anomalies of potential archaeological significance. The resistance survey also revealed an oval area 11m x 9m of marginally higher resistance to the surroundings, potentially the remains of a small building located within the platform (NPRN 415713)
Louise Barker, RCAHMW, Jan 2016

Sources:
Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2012. Skomer Island and Skokholm Island, Archaeology in Wales 51, 160-163.

Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2012. Puffins amidst prehistory: reinterpreting the complex landscape of Skomer Island, in: Britnell, W. J. and Silvester, R. J. Reflections on the Past, Essays in Honour of Frances Lynch. Cambrian Archaeological Association. Welshpool. 280-302.

Johnston, B., Barker, L., Davis, O. and Driver, T. 2012. Geophysical Survey on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, April 2012. Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield & Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Unpublished Report.

Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2013. Skomer Island, Marloes & St Brides, Pembrokeshire [geophysics], Archaeology in Wales 52, 158-9.