Description

Danish Camp defended enclosure is an interesting example of an Iron Age (c. 800 BC - AD 74) defended farmstead, scooped into the hillside and with a partially surviving outer bank. The site lies at 220m above OD on ground falling to the west, just outside the north-east boundary wall of Margam deer park.

The monument consists of a simple oval enclosure, about 42m long from north to south by 33m wide, though the west side is largely destroyed; the area is about 0.1ha. It is defined by a single bank, best preserved on the east where it is 3.5m wide and 0.7m high, an apparent external ditch probably being merely where material has been scooped out to form the bank. The position of the entrance is uncertain.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of late prehistoric agricultural and defensive organisation. The monument forms an important element within the wider Iron Age context (Mynydd Margam is particularly archaeologically rich) and may be expected to contain archaeological information in regard to elements such as chronology, building techniques and social organisation. Excavation may reveal much in regard to Iron Age life, as the central enclosed area may be expected to have contained round houses, huts and storage pits.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.

Source: Cadw