Barsey Island circa 500 BC

Description

The circular, rectangular and sub-rectangular foundations of several hut groups are visible on the uncultivated slopes of Mynydd Enlli. With little dating evidence for these particular sites, but with similar sites on the mainland largely dating from the Iron Age (700 B.C. - 43 A.D.), it has been decided that these structures should be used in the reconstruction of an Iron Age settlement on the island.

The houses are between 3m x 3m and 10m x 6m with all door openings facing south east. There are at least 6 individual buildings, with 3 in a close group. These were likely to be turf or stone walled with roofs of turf or coarse thatch, and are of a type similar to others found at Mynydd Anelog on the mainland near Aberdaron. The houses all seem to have some shelter from the worst of the elements with the group of three houses in particular located in a sheltered area with wide views of the sea and the lower island.

We can assume that fish and seafood was an important part of the diet for residents of the island, as such the reconstruction includes coracles and fish drying frames, illustrative of the methods of fishing and food preservation that would have been used on the island at that time. Other foods likely to have been included in the Iron Age diet were wheat, barley, oats, beans and brassicas such as cabbage and parsnip.