SUN HELPS HISTORY MAKE ITS MARK
The heatwave has opened up a view on Wales’ past. WILL HAYWARD takes a look at some of the sites that have been discovered
OVER the last few months people in Wales have been marvelling at the fascinating history which has been appearing beneath their feet. That is because strange outlines have been appearing in grass and vegetation all over the country. These are not left by aliens but are in fact a phenomenon known as crop marks.
Archaeological features below the soil can be visible from the air or a high vantage point as their outlines show as crop marks.
Parch marks, soil marks and frost marks can also reveal buried archaeological sites not visible from the ground.
The crop marks tend to appear during hot weather because vegetation draws on better nutrients and water supplies trapped in long-gone ditches. This leads to lush green growth that stands out.
The recent hot weather has been a dream for archaeologists as it has revealed the sheer amount of incredible history we walk over unwittingly every day.
Now the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) has mapped where all these crop marks are.
But the most recent discoveries are not on the map and that is for a very good reason.
According to a RCAHMW spokeswoman: “A lot are on private land so we do not want people to walk on to other people’s properties. Neither do we want metal detectors disturbing the remains.
“It will go on our records and other investigators may want to carry out more work on it. This is the first stage. There could be other non invasive tests and potentially an excavation in the future.” The hot weather has revealed:
Parchmarks of Roman buildings showing at Caerhun Roman fort in the Conwy Valley;
extensive crop marks of prehistoric enclosures in parched grassland on the Llyn Peninsula;
medieval square barrows in south Gwynedd;
a large Bronze Age barrow cemetery on the Llyn Peninsula in Gwynedd;
a prehistoric enclosure in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the faint footings of a probable Roman villa within;
an Iron Age farmstead near Whitland in Carmarthenshire; and
a newly-discovered Iron Age farmstead in coastal Ceredigion.
So, who is finding all these crop marks?
The searches are conducted by senior aerial investigator Dr Toby Driver. All flights start at Haverfordwest Airport in Pembrokeshire with
stopovers made for fuel at Caernarfon, Welshpool or even Gloucester airports so they can reach all corners of Wales.
Dr Driver said: “I’ve not seen conditions like this since I took over the archaeological flying at the Royal Commission in 1997. So much new archaeology is showing it is incredible. The urgent work in the air now will lead to months of research in the office in the winter months to map and record all the sites which have been seen, and reveal their true significance.”
According to a RCAHMW spokeswoman, the buildings are identifiable with 90% accuracy.