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The Palaeoecological Setting of Cefn Gwernffrwd — a Prehistoric Complex in Mid-Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

F. M. Chambers
F. M. Chambers*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Keele
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Abstract

Results of investigations into the palaeoecological setting of the stone-circle/ring-cairn prehistoric complex on Cefn Gwernffrwd, Mid-Wales are presented in two radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams. Mesolithic and Neolithic environments of the locality are briefly discussed. The conjectured archaeological age of the complex is then considered and compared with the palaeoecological evidence. The latter indicates construction of the complex in two separate episodes in the Bronze Age. Initial construction was probably in the Overton period (3650–3400 bp); later major local disturbance in the Penard period (3000–2800 bp) may be associated with construction of the ring cairn. These dates may slightly underestimate the age of human activities as they are based on fine particulate peat fractions of horizons in which the effects of activities are evident. The indications of a previously forested environment may have implications for the astronomical significance of the ‘alignment’ at the complex. Blanket peat initiation on the plateau was apparently connected with the Bronze Age impact on forest in this locality.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , 1983 , pp. 303 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1983

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