Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
A new 3D digital survey of Skomer Island, located a mile off the coast of Pembrokeshire, has revealed new details of its archaeological sites, allowing the public to appreciate many of them for the first time.
The island, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, is home to up to 350,000 pairs of breeding Manx shearwaters each year – the largest known colony of this species – as well as puffins and other seabirds. But it was also once the home of farmers, who minded the land for over 5,000 years from the Neolithic through to the medieval period. While these communities left behind extensive evidence of their presence, the archaeological remains have remained largely hidden until now, primarily due to their location amid a honeycomb of burrowed bird nests.
This past April, at a time when vegetation was lowest and the nesting season had yet to begin, archaeologists from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) visited the island to conduct a 3D photogrammetry survey of many of the above-ground archaeological remains. This technology allowed them to record the site from afar and avoid disturbing either the fragile remains or local wildlife, and to work quickly, completing the survey before birds returned to the islands to nest.
The newly recorded sites include the Harold Stone, a Bronze Age standing stone, as well as a rare stone-cobbled platform of the same date that surrounds it (below). A 19th-century limekiln, which would have been used to make mortar for building construction as well as to provide fertiliser, was documented, too, as was a stone roundhouse of uncertain date.
Commenting on the project, Dr Toby Driver from RCAHMW said: ‘We have been surveying, studying, and excavating the special archaeology of Skomer Island for more than a decade but technology now allows us to record heritage sites in incredible detail. We were keen to understand how the island’s best monuments are faring in a changing climate and to monitor their condition for the future.’
The 3D models are available to view online at https://skfb.ly/pwRyw.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Image: RCAHMW
