Welsh Journals

REVIEWS ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS, GLAMORGAN, Vol. 1, Part 1. H.M.S.O., 1976. Pp. xxx, 144. £ 9.50. It is always a pleasure, for an archaeologist, to welcome the appearance of a new Inventory. This is notably the case in the present instance since, with the publication of Glamorgan, Vol. 1, we have before us the long- awaited treatment of a county rich in antiquities and open to so many influences in the past. Glamorgan is the second Welsh county to be studied by the Royal Commission since the last war. Caernarvonshire appeared in three volumes in the 'sixties and was divided up on a parish basis. The new system is to issue volumes (and parts) on an essentially period basis and this has presumably been done to encourage greater sales. There are drawbacks inherent in this kind of approach, particularly when one comes to deal with multi-period sites and those with a long life. The breakdown of Glamorgan, Vol. 1, into three parts (Stone and Bronze Ages; Iron Age and Roman; Early Christian) has resulted in three rather slim books in each of which there are twenty-two pages of repeated preamble. There is much in favour of the Scottish and English Commissions' approach by county division and grouping of monument type. The volume contains an introductory note on the monuments of the period under discussion and this is followed by a useful section on the physical background of the county. Although credit in this field is given to Sir Cyril Fox, his 'Laws' are considerably tempered by the results of the researches of other geographers and those in allied disciplines. An assessment is then made of the evidence for communications in Glamorgan before the Roman period. These introductions are followed by standardly- produced descriptive sections divided into periods and monument forms. Distribution maps supplement descriptions and site-plans. The maps are of a high standard. Colours are most effectively used to indicate relief and nature of terrain: impervious, semi-permiable and freely-drained. Symbols are large and appropriate in their form. Although it is no longer the Commission's policy to illustrate finds, the first period section-on the PalaeoIithic-indicates the long interest shown in caves, and the variety and time-range of discoveries made within them. It is a pity that more could not have been made of the hitherto unsuspected inland Mesolithic settlement overlooking Llyn Fawr above the Rhondda. Excavations undertaken by H. N. Savory and A. D. Lacaille (in the early 'sixties) need to be supplemented, but both they and fieldwork would now be hindered by forestry. This inland aspect of Mesolithic settlement, which is in evidence elsewhere in Wales, is changing our attitude towards the economy of the period. Little can be said, as in so many other areas of Britain, about Neolithic houses, but chambered tombs are plentiful and are well illustrated. Less common-and novel for the county-are cup-marked stones and a henge monument. Attention has recently been directed towards a new form of