Mawgan Porth Dark Age Village facts for kids
 Location in Cornwall
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| Alternative name | Porthglyvyan |
|---|---|
| Location | Mawgan Porth |
| Region | Cornwall |
| Coordinates | 50°26′05″N 005°00′47″W / 50.43472°N 5.01306°W |
| Type | Ancient village |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 850 AD |
| Abandoned | c. 1050 AD |
| Periods | Early Middle Ages (Dark Ages) |
| Cultures | Dumnonia |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1949-52, 1954 and 1974 |
| Archaeologists | Rupert Bruce-Mitford, Paul Ashbee, Ernest Greenfield |
| Condition | Ruins |
| Public access | Yes |
Mawgan Porth Dark Age Village is an old settlement found on the north coast of Cornwall. It was a small village with three groups of houses, each built around a courtyard. It also had a cemetery. People lived here around the 10th century.
Archaeologists, led by Rupert Bruce-Mitford, dug up the site between 1950 and 1954. The village was first found by accident in 1934. A landowner, Mr. P. A. Wailes, was planning to build on his land. When he checked the ground, workers found a skeleton, old stone walls, pottery pieces, and bone fragments.
Contents
Uncovering the Past: Digging Up Mawgan Porth
The first small dig happened in 1948 to see what was there. Because of what they found, bigger excavations took place from 1950 to 1954. These digs helped us learn a lot about how people lived long ago.
The Village Cemetery: Resting Places
The village had a cemetery where people were buried. Archaeologists found several adults and children buried in graves made of stone slabs. They also found unique pottery during the digs. This pottery had special designs, partly inspired by styles from the Isles of Scilly and other parts of Cornwall.
Treasures Found: What Was Left Behind
Many items found at the Mawgan Porth site are now kept safe at the British Museum. These finds help us understand daily life in the village. Old photos of the site, taken by Charles Woolf, are stored at the Photographic Library of English Heritage. These pictures show how the village looked during the excavations.
Cornwall in the Dark Ages: A Hidden History
For a long time, not much was known about the "Dark Ages" in Cornwall. This period is also called the Early Middle Ages. The Cornwall edition of the Victoria County History only mentioned stone crosses and a silver treasure found at Trewhiddle in 1974. The Trewhiddle treasure is one of the best collections of early medieval silver found in Britain.
However, new discoveries are changing what we know. Recent digs at Tintagel, along with older ones at Duckpool, St Pirans Oratory near Perranporth, and a settlement at Gunwalloe, show a different picture. They suggest that Cornwall was a lively place with important, educated people during this time.
