Banc y Celyn, Brecknockshire - Royal Commission on the Ancient ...

Uplands Initiative – <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> 2008Plate 3: Bracken covers a large portion of the study area during the summer andautumn months as seen here at Cwm Owen.1.3.1 Extent of area covered in km 2The extent of the <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> study area was 20.19km 2 .1.3.2 Previous FieldworkOnly limited archaeological fieldwork had been carried out in the survey area prior tothis project. The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust have undertaken partial surveywork, as part of Cadw’s pan-Wales Deserted Rural Settlements survey (CPAT, 1999)and Funerary and Ritual Monuments Survey (CPAT, 2004), both of which weremonument specific project, designed to improve the understanding and management ofmonuments previously known. They did not include whole-area field surveys andconsequently did not produce a comprehensive record of the archaeological evidencefor the monument type within the study area. Nevertheless, the NMR and regional HERbenefited from both projects and the record, with respect to some of the most significantmonument types found on Mynydd Epynt, was much better informed as a result.The RCAHMW has also undertaken some monument specific fieldwork in the area inthe past, the results of which help inform the relevant volume of the BrecknockInventory, which covers Later Prehistoric Monuments and Unenclosed Settlements(RCAHMW, 1997). An AP mapping project undertaken by the RCAHMW in 1997 on theadjacent SENTA military range also extended into parts of the study area (Driver, T, 1997),although no site visits appear to have been made here.6