The Influence of People - Gower - page 55

Polypodium spp. dominated the site prior to clearance and construction of the ramparts, while grass was
unimportant. Grassland subsequently replaced the forest andhas dominated the area since, although birch
has been present throughout the history of this site, except during very recent times.
The finest hillfort is Cil Ifor (Fig. 27), which consists of three large ramparts and ditches enclosing
the steep-sided hill, but there are other prominent hillforts such as the Bulwark on Llanmadoc Hill. The
patternsofsmallenclosedfieldsnearvillagesandthesharedgrazingoncommonlandmayalsodatefrom
this period, despite being modified by the partial imposition of the manorial system and later enclosures.
Iron Age society was primarily agricultural, and small farmsteads supported dispersed communities.
Many of these small farmsteads were marked with a circular bank and ditch enclosure and surrounded
by linear ditch systems that formed small rectangular fields radiating out from the farm itself, but as yet
no evidence for such field boundaries has been found in Gower. Animals provided meat, functioned as
draught or pack animals and as symbolic wealth, as raw materials for clothing, as providers of dairy pro-
duce and manure and as aids to herding and hunting. Plants provided staple foods, fuel, bedding and
roofing material, while managed woodland provided resources for building, fencing and carts. The best-
known of the cereals grown in prehistory is emmer wheat Triticum dioccum , which was grown extens-
ively in Britain during the late Iron Age and the Roman period along with spelt wheat Triticum spelta.
Besides the cereals a number of legumes were grown including peas, vetches and beans.
FIG 27 . Cil Ifor, the finest hillfort in Gower, from the southwest. (Harold Grenfell)
David Painter for Figures
THE ROMAN INFLUENCE
The Roman invasion of Wales took place just under 2,000 years ago, in AD 50, with the Roman army de-
feating the dominant Iron Age tribe the Silures, whose territory probably covered Gower. Although there