Walls at Tintagel Castle May Date to the Sixth Century

News August 3, 2016

(Kerry Garratt, via Wikimedia Commons)
SHARE:
Cornwall Tintagel castle
(Kerry Garratt, via Wikimedia Commons)

CORNWALL, ENGLAND—The Cornwall Archaeological Unit and English Heritage have unearthed thick stone walls that may date to the sixth century in previously unexcavated terrace areas near the thirteenth-century site of Tintagel Castle. Geophysical surveys of this area suggested that two rooms sit below the surface. The excavation team has also recovered fragments of imported pottery and glass, suggesting that the sixth-century residents of the site were wealthy. Among their belongings, archaeologists have found late Roman amphoras and fine red-slip tableware imported from western Turkey. “The discovery of high-status buildings—potentially a royal palace complex—at Tintagel is transforming our understanding of the site,” Win Scutt of English Heritage told The Telegraph. To read about excavations of another castle, go to "Letter from England: Stronghold of the Kings in the North."

  • Features July/August 2016

    Franklin’s Last Voyage

    After 170 years and countless searches, archaeologists have discovered a famed wreck in the frigid Arctic

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Parks Canada, Photo: Marc-André Bernier)
  • Letter from England July/August 2016

    Stronghold of the Kings in the North

    Excavations at one of Britain’s most majestic castles help tell the story of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom

    Read Article
    (Colin Carter Photography/Getty Images)
  • Artifacts July/August 2016

    Spanish Horseshoe

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Peter Eeckhout)
  • Digs & Discoveries July/August 2016

    Is it Esmeralda?

    Read Article
    (Courtesy David Mearns)