2200-800 BC Bronze Age

As in many other periods, western parts of Wales had strong links across the Irish Sea during the Bronze Age. Nevertheless, in broad terms the Bronze Age cultures of Wales have more in common with their counterparts to the east. The region was rich in copper ores which were exploited at a number of sites in north and central Wales from around 2000 BC onwards. Some mines were used only during the Early Bronze Age, but the extensive system of shafts and galleries at Great Orme’s Head (Llandudno) was the product of many centuries of steady ore extraction. Local copper production probably gave rise to some distinctive metalworking traditions spreading from Wales into neighbouring parts of England. The discovery of Welsh gold sources at this early date is also possible, but has yet to be proven.

For much of the period, a climate a little warmer than today’s allowed cultivation and settlement to extend high into the mountainous areas. Those zones also saw the construction of large numbers of burial and ceremonial monuments which used the abundant local rocks in a variety of ways. Late in the period a new type of site appeared in the Welsh Marches (the borders with England) – the excavation of two or three hillforts has shown that they were first defended by ramparts before the Iron Age, when they became frequent.