Sigwells

Sigwells, a rural plateau overlooking the Somerset hill fort, Cadbury Castle, was the site of early excavations by one of the fathers of modern archaeology, General Augustus Pitt Rivers, in 1877 [1]. The most important discovery was the earliest known bronze casting building and associated enclosure in Britain [1]. Pitt Rivers excavated two over lapping Early Bronze Age round barrows and a single round barrow [1]. Part of the floor of a circular building in the north of the enclosure was heavily burnt and shallow scoops on the periphery of the building contained mould fragments from objects of what had been regarded as the later Bronze Age Wilburton metalworking tradition [1]. Most notable of the fragments were those subsequently refitted to a sword in the Museum of Somerset [1].