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Turning Back Time at Dinas Dinlle

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New animation tells the climate story of this Gwynedd coastal village from the Ice Age to the Second World War

We’re excited to launch the CHERISH project’s animation on the changing landscape of Dinas Dinlle!

Over the last 6 years, archaeologists and geographers have been investigating Dinas Dinlle coastal fort and the Morfa Dinlle landscape to help reveal their hidden secrets.. CHERISH work started in 2017 at Dinas Dinlle coastal fort, an eroding late prehistoric settlement. Here archaeological work included new aerial and drone surveys, topographic and geophysical surveys to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information about the scheduled monument.

This work led to community excavations, undertaken on behalf of CHERISH, the National Trust and Cadw by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust with the aid of an army of volunteers. Two trenches explored the hillfort interior close to the eroding cliff-face and revealed prehistoric and Roman roundhouses buried deep beneath the sand. The star reveal was a large and impressive roundhouse, which was fully excavated and consolidated so that visitors can see visit this impressive structure today.  

The excavated round house at Dinas Dinlle taken in 2021
The excavated round house at Dinas Dinlle taken in 2021

During excavation it was found that the archaeology within the hillfort was buried under meters of sand, which allowed us to apply a special technique (Optical Stimulated Luminescence) to help us date when the sand blew in. Dates show that sand was an ever-present challenge to the occupants of the hillfort; evidence from the hillfort’s inner ditch shows that sand started collecting here from the Middle Iron Age onwards (around 250 BC). In the interior, sand accumulation over the large roundhouse suggests that by the start of the Medieval period around AD 1100 sand was left to accumulate over the site.

 

A still taken from the animation showing storms bringing the start of sand inundation at Dinas Dinlle
A still taken from the animation showing storms bringing the start of sand inundation at Dinas Dinlle

Around the hillfort, the CHERISH team extracted cores from the  wetlands and dated peat exposed at low tides on the foreshore to provide evidence for the evolution of the landscape and the vegetation history. This showed that around 7500 years ago, in the Mesolithic period, woodland stood where the beach is today;  sea-levels were around 5 metres lower than they are now.  The work also showed that there was once a tidal inlet behind the fort where the village and fields are today – a perfect location for a harbour for Iron Age and Roman boats!

A still taken from the animation of Dinas Dinlle landscape during the Second World War
A still taken from the animation of Dinas Dinlle landscape during the Second World War

Further afield the team explored and dated the development of Morfa Dinlle around modern-day Caernarfon Airport. Evidence suggests that Morfa Dinlle may have developed first as an island around 2000 years ago, during the time Dinas Dinlle hillfort was occupied. Later it was either cut off due to the tide or isolated permanently.

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Dramatic new images bring the eroding prehistoric coastal forts of Wales to life

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Dramatic new digital reconstructions of two of Wales’s most vulnerable prehistoric coastal forts have just been completed, vividly bringing to life the Iron Age and Roman defended villages in photo-realistic detail.

 

Dinas Dinlle coastal fort near Caernarfon in Gwynedd, and Caerfai coastal promontory fort near St David’s in Pembrokeshire, both owned by the National Trust, are threatened with coastal erosion and cliff loss. Increased storminess and intense rainfall, coupled with predicted rises in sea-level due to climate change, are steadily eroding the fragile archaeology at both these sites.

The EU-funded CHERISH Project has worked closely with a team of artists in Wessex Archaeology, and a range of stakeholders and experts, to accurately reconstruct both these sites in their heydays.

Dinas Dinlle coastal fort has seen three years of excavation by the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, CHERISH, the National Trust and Cadw to rescue, and better-understand, the buried archaeology within the defences. Around 40 metres of the soft sand and gravel cliffs have been lost in the last century alone. A Romano-British roundhouse excavated close to the cliff edge has now been consolidated for public view. It will form an indicator of climate change as it steadily erodes over the cliff. One of the new reconstructions imagines this roundhouse in AD150, as the focus of a community with a female chief.

Reconstruction of the excavated and reconstructed Romano-British roundhouse within Dinas Dinlle coastal fort, Gwynedd
Reconstruction of the excavated and reconstructed Romano-British roundhouse within Dinas Dinlle coastal fort, Gwynedd (© Crown: CHERISH PROJECT 2022. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme 2014-2023. All material made freely available through the Open Government Licence. Artwork by Wessex Archaeology. NPRN 95309/703001)

The wider reconstruction image shows Dinas Dinlle hillfort in Roman times, before coastal erosion cut away the western side. The Roman-period coastline, and an estuarine inlet behind the modern village, have been accurately shown following a comprehensive programme of coring and landscape reconstruction by Aberystwyth University’s Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. The hillfort interior, showing roundhouses, streets and yards, has been accurately reconstructed based on the evidence of a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey.

Reconstruction of Dinas Dinlle coastal fort, Gwynedd, from the north-west.
Reconstruction of Dinas Dinlle coastal fort, Gwynedd, from the north-west. (© Crown: CHERISH PROJECT 2022. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme 2014-2023. All material made freely available through the Open Government Licence. Artwork by Wessex Archaeology. NPRN 95309).

The reconstruction of Caerfai coastal promontory fort near St Davids in Pembrokeshire shows the defended settlement around 50BC. Strong defensive ramparts, deep ditches and towered gateways once protected this Iron Age village. Inside, evidence based upon surveys and excavations by the CHERISH Project and DigVentures, working with the National Trust and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, shows a village of roundhouses and workshops with copper ore being mined from the sea cliffs. Offshore, locals in hidebound ‘currach-type’ boats row out to meet a Gallo-Roman trading ship.

Reconstruction image of Caerfai coastal fort, Pembrokeshire, from the north showing round houses and embankments
Reconstruction of Caerfai coastal fort, Pembrokeshire, from the north. (© Crown: CHERISH PROJECT 2022. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme 2014-2023. All material made freely available through the Open Government Licence. Artwork by Wessex Archaeology. NPRN 305396).

Both coastal forts are owned by the National Trust and have seen several years of community excavation and landscape research by the EU-funded CHERISH Project combining the expertise of the Royal Commission and Aberystwyth University, working with the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, DigVentures and Cadw. The reconstructions are destined for new interpretation panels and online resources, to help visitors to the sites visualise the prehistoric and Roman past.

For further information contact: nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk or toby.driver@rcahmw.gov.uk

 

For permission to reproduce the images please contact: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk

High resolution copies of the images can be supplied.

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Grab your boots, bring a sense of adventure……and get digging!

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Have you ever wanted to take part in an archaeological excavation? Finding buried treasure and learning about the past….

Following the success of the CHERISH community excavation at Caerfai Promontory Fort near St Davids in Pembrokeshire last year, the team are excited to offer another opportunity to investigate the site.

Between September 3rd – 18th 2022 DigVentures are organising a second  season of excavation at Caerfai.  The field school will teach excavation skills, how to locate archaeological features and investigate the impacts of climate change.  

The CHERISH project is offering 4 funded places for students aged 17+ interested in following a career in archaeology or people who are currently unemployed and looking for training opportunities.   Each place is worth £700 and funds a week at the dig.   We’re unable to provide accommodation and applicants must also ideally live in Pembrokeshire.   

If you’d like to apply, please send a short paragraph [300 words max] on why you’d like to attend the field school.  You’ll also be asked to write a blog and social media posts during your time on the dig.  You’ll be supported in this by the CHERISH team.   

Caerfai Excavation September 2021 – a montage of all the volunteers and staff involved

Details of the field school can be found https://digventures.com/projects/caerfai/

For info:

Dig Ventures are the first Chartered Institute for Archaeologists’ Accredited Field School with a dedicated and structured field school curriculum to train volunteers in all aspects of the dig process and support the Archaeology Skills Passport.

Please email your application to Cherish@rcahmw.gov.uk , making sure to include your name, address and whether you are a student or currently unemployed.    Deadline for Applications – Friday 5 August

 

We’d love to see you on site!  

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