‘The Welsh Roundhouse’

A Board of Celtic Studies funded research project investigating excavated hut circle sites in Wales.

Dr. Robert Johnston (Sheffield) Project Manager; Dr. Nancy Edwards (Bangor); Dr. Rachel Pope (Leicester); Dr. Eleanor Ghey (University of Wales) Research Assistant.

Background

The varied role and structure of the Welsh roundhouse has not been the subject of detailed, systematic analysis. As a result, broad historical and geographical patterns and changes in the definition, function and scale of the social space of roundhouses have yet to be identified – even if more localised (regional and chronological) trends have been observed. Previous studies, while important, remain to be systematically tested outside the contexts of their formation; in most cases this is restricted to a few well-known sites in central southern England. An exception to this has been the long-term and multi-scalar perspective taken by Rachel Pope in her doctoral research, an analysis of all the published excavated roundhouses in northern and central Britain (including North Wales). Her research demonstrated significant chronological and regional patterning in the structure and function of roundhouses that could be associated with changes in society and environment.  

 

 

The excavated roundhouses in Wales represent an exceptionally good sample with which to apply and, through the inclusion of unpublished sites and the study of artefact deposition and landscape setting, further develop the approach that Pope has taken. Using this assemblage addresses the current lack of any comprehensive nationwide study, and will enable the testing of existing theories of society and domestic space and the development of new narratives stemming uniquely from a Welsh context. It also shifts the focus towards individual roundhouses as the primary analytical record where in the past the morphology of settlements has dominated the debate.

 

 

Project aims

The aims of the project are to:

• Characterise the Welsh roundhouse by considering chronology, structure and function via analyses of the excavated architectural and artefactual evidence.
• Consider the geographical and landscape context of the Welsh roundhouse with a view to understanding household economy and changing social forms.
• Examine the applicability of current social models to the Welsh data.

 

Contact:

Dr Robert Johnston
Department of Archaeology
University of Sheffield
Tel. 0114 2222941
R.Johnston@sheffield.ac.uk  

Dr. Eleanor Ghey
Department of History& Welsh
History
Bangor University
Tel. 01248 382149
e.ghey@bangor.ac.uk

Image credits (from top):

1. Adrian Chadwick

2. Rachel Pope

3. Castell Henllys Iron Age Fort, owned and managed by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority