"New discoveries are transforming our understanding about prehistoric life in southern Ceredigion. A team of archaeologists led by Cambria Archaeology and the University of York, and including students from all over the world, are currently excavating a 2000 year-old farmstead near Tremain in southern Ceredigion with the help of a grant from Cadw.

The dig started on 17 July 2006 and already the archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a circular house together with pits and postholes that might provide evidence of what life was like in this part of Ceredigion during the late Iron Age. Other roundhouses were identified last year during a geophysical survey of the site. The buildings appear to have been surrounded by two large ditches and banks that may have been used to protect the occupants of the enclosure. According to Ken Murphy, who is directing the excavation, the settlement, 'may have been home to several families during the years between 200BC and AD100'.

The public will have a chance to see the excavation in progress on Sunday 6 August 2006 between 11.00am and 4.00pm. The site is near the farm of Ffynnonwen a few hundred yards to the northwest of Tremain and signs to the open day will be put up to direct visitors from the main road (A487) between Penparc and Tremain. The progress of the excavation can also be followed by visiting the website of Cambria Archaeology where regular updates are being posted onto a 'dig diary'.

Access to the excavation has been made possible by the kind permission of the owners of Ffynnonwen Farm, John and Helen Thomas."

Article written by Gwilym Hughes

For more information about the Ffynonwen dig and other digs in Ceredigion log on to the Cambria Archeology website's: