NAR SH28SW2

An area of later Prehistoric settlement features, generally stone founded roundhouses, occupying a natural shelf or terrace below the south-eastern flank of Holyhead Mountain. This complex extends at least 435m north-east to south-west and is at most about 70m deep. The site was first explored in a systematic way in 1862 and 1868. It was placed in state guardianship in 1911 and a program of clearance and consolidation was carried out in 1912-13. A section of the north-eastern area was excavated between 1978 anf 1982.
The complex may originally have included at least fifty buildings although only twenty are now visible. There are also some rectangular structures as well as walled yards and extensive terraces. The buildings are found in the north-eastern and south-western parts of the site, the former area being recorded separately (NPRN 308078).
The circular buildings are generally in the range of 6.0m to 10.5m across. Finds have included pottery and a coin hoard of the Roman period, although radio-carbon determinations point to occupation from the middle years of the first millennium BC.

Sources: RCAHM Anglesey Inventory (1937), 24-8
Smith in Archaeologia Cambrensis 133 for 1984 (1985)
134 for 1985 (1986), 11-52
135 for 1986 (1987), 12-80
136 for 1987 (1988), 20-38

John Wiles 09.08.07