page_title: Castell Caer Seion
section_title: Second excavation: 1951, 1952
hierarchical_section_title: Castell Caer Seion / Archaeological excavations / Second excavation: 1951, 1952
caption_attribution_description: English: Plan of later enclosure at western end of Caer Seion hillfort.
context_page_description: Castell Caer Seion is an Iron Age hillfort situated at the top of Conwy Mountain, in Conwy County, North Wales. It is unusual for the fact that the main fort contains a smaller, more heavily defended fort, complete with its own distinct defences and entrance, with no obvious means of access between the two. The construction date of the original fort is still unknown, but recent excavations have revealed evidence of occupation as early as the 6th century BC, whilst the smaller fort can be dated with reasonable certainty to around the 4th century BC. Whilst the forts were constructed in different periods, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of concurrent occupation, seemingly up until around the 2nd century BC. The larger fort contained around 50 roundhouses during its lifetime, whereas examinations of the smaller fort have turned up no more than six. The site was traditionally associated with Maelgwyn Gwynedd, but there is no evidence pointing to a 6th-century occupation. The fort and wider area beyond its boundaries have been said to retain significant archaeological potential, and are protected by law as a scheduled ancient monument.
context_section_description: By far the most extensive of the excavations were those conducted on behalf of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Most of what we now know about the site stems from these digs, carried out by W.E. Griffiths and A.H.A. Hogg. They concluded that the site showed two periods of fortification, both within the latter part of the pre-Roman Iron Age. Whilst we now know that the fort was occupied as early as the Early to Middle Iron Age, the archaeologists did note at the time that their evidence for dating was slight; and for structural development was 'largely inferential'. They were the first to provide evidence that the two forts were designed to be used concurrently, based on the layout of the walls at the juncture of the two enclosures, and also speculate that the two separate enclosures were accessible to each other via some form of moveable ladder. No direct evidence exists to support this, but Griffiths and Hogg thought it likely because of the existence of a level causeway leading through the eastern defensive ditch to the northern corner of the small enclosure, where there were no entrances. (See F1 on the annotated plan; this feature is also clearly visible on the image in the infobox.)
caption: Plan of later fort at western margin of Caer Seion.
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