24 Aug 2018

The heat is on for Welsh archaeologists

From Nine To Noon, 9:22 am on 24 August 2018

Cropmarks of a large prehistoric enclosure in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the faint footings of a probable Roman villa within (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Desert-like colours along the Menai Strait near Caernarfon Airport, Gwynedd (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Cropmarks of a large Bronze Age barrow cemetery on the Llyn Peninsula, Gwynedd (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Parchmarks of Roman buildings showing at Caerhun Roman fort in the Conwy Valley (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Extensive cropmarks of prehistoric enclosures in parched grassland on the Llyn Peninsula (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Faint but unmistakable cropmarks of newly-discovered early medieval square barrows, south Gwynedd (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

The parched landscape of Bardsey Island (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

An Iron Age farmstead near Whitland in Carmarthenshire (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

A newly-discovered Iron Age farmstead in coastal Ceredigion (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Stopping for fuel and lunch at Caernarfon Airport in the FlyWales 4-seater Cessna aircraft (Crown Copyright RCAHMW)

Drought conditions have given up clues to previously unknown ancient settlements in Wales, which experienced some of the hottest days ever in the UK in July. Dr Toby Driver is aerial commissioner for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. He spent days flying over north and south Wales earlier this month, recording traces of centuries-old sites, cropmarks of Bronze Age barrows, prehistoric settlements, a Roman military settlement and parched landscapes.

Lynn Freeman speaks with Toby Driver