The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Enclosure, Carn Caca, Neath

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00564w
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Clyne and Melincourt
Unitary authority : Neath Port Talbot
NGR : SN83850004
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age Hillfort
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
It is an oval E.I. A. fort which consist of two banks, max. 1m high, 3 to 5m wide, with a wide shallow ditch (4m wide, 0.7m deep) between them, the overall measuring 16 to 18m wide. The whole enclosure has a length about 22m from NW to SW, about 0.1ha.

Description :
The earthwork is situated just below the crest of a north-east slope to the south of Resolven, westwards of the Roman Camp. The site is 300m above O.D, in a defensive position. It is an oval Early Iron Age fort, but, although it has been assumed to be contemporary with Early Iron Age hillforts, there is no direct evidence for this and Dr Savory (in : D. EDWARDS F.I.1956) does not exclude the possibility that some of these sites in Wales are of Roman or Post-Roman date.
It consists of two earth eroded ramparts, maximum 1m high, with a wide shallow ditch (4m wide, with depth 0.7m below the top of the banks) between them. The whole enclosure has an area of about 0.1ha: the inner bank is about 3 to 3.5m wide, separated by the ditch from the outer bank which is about 3 to 5m wide, the overall measuring 16 to 18m wide. This defended area measures about 22m long from NW to SW by 37m wide.
On the west, there is an entrance 3m wide across the inner bank, the ditch and outer bank being interrupted by a 10m causeway. Within the enclosure are the remains of a hut circle, with a diameter of at least 10m and walls 1.3m thick. The outer bank has been partly destroyed in the south-west by a modern trackway (D. EDWARDS F.I.1956 ; RCAHM 1976).

Enclosure stands on level ground at 300m OD on edge of steep fall to NE into valley of Melin Court Brook. Oval 0.1ha, the NE defence is provided by the natural slopes, down which the NW and SW defences are carried before fading out.
The defended area is 44m long NW-SW by 37m wide, consisting of inner bank 3-3.5m wide, with a ditch before the outer bank 3-5m wide, overall width 16-18m. The defences are best preserved on the NW where the maximum height of the inner bank is nearly a metre, the outer bank slightly less. On the W, the outer bank and ditch are interrupted by a causeway and the inner bank is inturned sharply to form an entrance 3m wide. On the SW the outer bank has been destroyed by a hollow trail.
In the interior on the E, a scarped hollow and the footings of a stone wall 1.3m thick appear to mark the site of a large circular hut about 10m in diameter. There was possible another hut about 6m in diameter within the curve of the defences on the NW. (Wiggins and Evans 2005)

Sources :
Wiggins, H and Evans, E , 2005 , Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork
D. EDWARDS F.I, 17.02.1956, Arch. Corr. File (National Museum of Wales), South Wales Evening Post
D. EDWARDS F.I, 14.06.1956
Harry GREEN, 24.9.1954, National Museum of Wales, South Wales Evening Post
RCAHM, 1976, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan, I, ii, p.22 (no 618)
CADW, 1975, Scheduled Ancient Monument Record (last visited in 2005), SAM GM366
CADW, 1975, Scheduled Ancient Monument Record (last visited in 2005), SAM GM366

Events :
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)
E007588 : Afan Valley Adventure Resort, Neath Port Talbot (year : 2017)

Related records
National Monuments Record NPRN 301306 http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301306/details

Compiled date :


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