The Glaslyn Prehistory Project received funding for three further radiocarbon dates from the Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating (CARD) fund from the latest round of funding during 2020. This is the second round of funding which the project received, adding to the funding in 2019. Established in 2016 by Archaeological Research Services Ltd and the SUERC Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, the CARD Fund aims to cover the cost of around ten radiocarbon dates each year for British community archaeological groups or projects.
The Glaslyn Prehistory Project, which focuses on the head of the Glaslyn estuary in Snowdonia, uncovered a midden at Parc Coed containing significant quantities of shells, as well as smashed bones from cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. The project received funding for dating these remains in 2019, which returned dates of 346-26 BC and 325 BC-18 AD (95% probability), indicating a late Iron Age date for the midden.
Further middens were uncovered and excavated by the Glaslyn Prehistory Project, with one from Hir Ynys being filled with an abundance of seafood; particularly oysters. The CARD fund provided funding for three oyster shells to be dated, which returned dates of 573-129 BC, 723-280 BC, and 732-303 BC. These dates put to rest speculation that the shells at Hir Ynys were from an earlier prehistoric era than those from Parc Coed, and showed they were from a similar time. These results further emphasised the rich archaeology of the Iron Age occupation and activity around the Glaslyn Estuary and demonstrated the importance of seafood within the diet of local Iron Age inhabitants.
CARD Fund applications for this year are still being welcomed. So, if you have a site and material you’d like dated, please see https://www.cardfund.org/ for more information and guidance on how to apply.
The deadline for the 2021 round of funding is 30 November – so get your applications in soon!