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Summary

Twelve hut circles of Iron Age date are situated on the saddle between the central and east summits of Carn Brea.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument CO79: Carn Brea Castle
• Conservation Area: CARN BREA

Other References/Statuses

• National Mapping Programme (Morph No.): 377.27
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW64SE 5
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 18163.42
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW64SE 113.2-.1

Monument Type(s):

• HUT CIRCLE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• SETTLEMENT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

A settlement consisting of twelve round houses of Iron Age date is situated on the saddle between the central and east summits of Carn Brea. Wilkinson recorded twelve huts in 1860 and suggested an Iron Age date (b1); he appears to have excavated some of them but found little. Further excavations took place in 1862 (b3). In the 1890s many more huts were excavated and finds recovered included Iron Age pottery, spindlewhorls and charcoal (b2,6). Mercer re-excavated the damaged hut 11 (Site B) and fully excavated house 5 (Site H) in 1970 and 1972 respectively. He suggests that cordoned ware fragments from these huts indicate a date in the centuries immediately prior to the Roman conquest. The better preserved hut 5 was 9.5m in diameter, the walls faced with regular slabs with a rubble fill. Cobbling and slabs outside the east entrance were thought to be the remains of a porch. From his outline plan of the settlement as a whole, the houses appear to have an average internal diameter of 7.0m; the OS fieldworker in 1970 gives the height of their walls as ranging from 0.2m to 1.1m (h2). Nine of the hut circles are visible on air photographs (p1, p2) and were plotted as part of the NMP. The monument is included in the Schedule.

--------------------------------
Site history:
1: 1962. GHP / OS
2: 1970. ANK / OS
4: 1979. SHEPPARD, PA / IAM
5: 1985. SG, AS / CAU
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<1> WILKINSON, G, 1860, UNKNOWN TITLE, PT 1, 27-33 (Unedited Source). SCO6135.

CAU, 1991, F33/266 (Photographic Record). SCO18096.

<2> Peter, TC, 1896, The Expoloration of Carn Brea (Article in Journal). SCO5139.

CAU, 1997, F51/197-203 (Photographic Record). SCO18788.

<3> UNKNOWN, 1896, LAUNCESTON MEETING REPORT, VOL 13, 57 (Unedited Source). SCO6578.

<4> Hencken, H O'N, 1932, The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, 128 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3489.

<5> Mercer, R, 1981, Excavations at Carn Brea, Illogan, 10, 81-87 (Article in Journal). SCO3929.

<6> Burnard, R, 1896, The exploration of Carn Brea, 1-54 (Article in Journal). SCO6572.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds

• FCO3265 - PLANT REMAINS (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• FCO1277 - SHERD (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• FCO1275 - SPINDLE WHORL (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• FCO3264 - SPINDLE WHORL (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• FCO1276 - UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• FCO3263 - UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Associated Events: none recorded

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