Archaeologists in Wales have made a landmark discovery in the form of a buried seventh-century settlement.
The medieval village, located in the southern part of Anglesey, is believed to have been built during the first few hundred years after the Romans left Britain.
The village at Rhuddgaer, near Newborough on Anglesey, was excavated during the summer after archaeologists from the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust decided to revisit the spot following the discovery of a lead coffin in the area back in the 1870s. This coffin, which dates even further back to the fourth or fifth century, is now housed at Bangor Museum.
As the archaeologists explored using a magnetometer, which identifies features underground without having to dig, seven or more buildings were discovered.
"The survey didn't manage to find the site of the coffin, but did show two or more phases of fields including typical medieval ridge and furrow cultivation, and more importantly what looked like a small village," Dave Hopewell, senior archaeologist for the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, told the Daily Post. "The houses were unusual with rounded ends and this discovery is of great importance because scholars know next to nothing about this time in Wales.
"It is the early-medieval period or 'the dark ages', the first few hundred years after the Romans left and before the castles of the medieval period. The area is now flat, featureless fields, but to see a whole village like this is a first in Wales."
The trust carried out a full two-week excavation with the help of Bangor University students and grant aid from the Welsh Government's historic environment service, Cadw.
Mr Hopewell added: "One of the buildings had been covered with over a metre of sand, perhaps from a well-documented great storm in 1331 that buried part of Newborough.
"The house was quite large, around 12 x 7m externally with thick stone walls and opposing entrances in the centre. Radiocarbon dates suggest it dates from the seventh or eighth century.
We'll just have to wait and see what other interesting finds could be buried below the surface.
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