Welsh Journals

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The hoard had been buried close to the site of a probable Romano- British farm and would seem to represent a savings-deposit, an impression reinforced by the fact that the coins appear to have been carefully packed in sawdust within their container. Superficial corrosion products on some of the coins have preserved traces of small slivers of wood, though the species cannot be identified.10 This is the third mid-second century silver hoard recorded from this area. A hoard of thirty-eight denarii was found at Boverton in 1798, twenty-two of which survive, and another possible hoard, of which only two coins were properly recorded, at Laleston around 1931. The Laleston find, if a hoard, is some years later than Monknash (AD 156 or later), so there can be no common reason for their concealment. However, these hoards and numerous individual finds reported over the past decade or so point to a flourishing cash-using rural economy in this area during the second century AD. Edward Besly National Museums & Galleries of Wales Medieval EGLWYS NUNNYDD, MARGAM, NEATH PORT TALBOT (SS 803 842) Watching briefs were carried out on the groundworks associated with barn conversions and the construction of a new house on Plots 4, 5 and 6 of the former Eglwys Nunnydd Farm, which lies in the vicinity of an early medieval monastic site." The most significant area of activity was noted on Plot 4, where the machine excavation of the footprint for the new building revealed a number of associated features. A substantial clay-bonded wall, aligned east-west, measured 1.2 m wide and survived to a height of 1 m. It was constructed of unshaped local stone, and had fairly well-defined faces. It is unclear whether the wall formed the foundation of a structure built close to the present ground level, or was freestanding, but its relationship with the lower features suggests the former. An irregular area of brown silty clay with cobbles, extending about 1.5 m, also followed a broadly east-west alignment. This was flanked on either side by a layer of pale brown silty clay, but it was not possible to determine whether these were both