BUILDING work on Wonastow Road has come to a halt after the discovery of a Bronze Age settlement.

The remains were exposed on 3rd June during the excavation of an attenuation pond by David Wilson Homes for the Monmouth firm Siltbuster. They centre on what is believed to be a seasonal prehistoric settlement on the shore of a large historic lake.

There is a collapsed wooden structure, possibly a round house, with wattle and daub walls and a brushwood floor. The floor is producing organic material including animal bones and scores of hazel nuts where patches of white/ grey anaerobic clay amongst the brushwood are probably the remains of the clay daub from the hut walls.

The discovery was made by Members of Monmouth Archaeology (contractors for Barratt Homes and Siltbuster) on the same day that the revised edition of the book The Lost Lake, about Monmouth’s prehistoric lake, was published.

These discoveries reinforce those at Parc Glyndwr and show that there was intense prehistoric occupation and activity around the lake with Bronze Age radiocarbon dates ranging from around 1000 to 2000 BC and New Stone Age dates of around 3000 BC.

See this week’s Beacon, in shops on Wednesday (15th June) for more information.