1. Remains of low, denuded field boundaries are present within the centre of Skomer Island. It was always presumed that 19th century ploughing had destroyed the prehistoric archaeology in this area or that none existed. However, a LiDAR survey has shown that broad, plough disturbed banks do exist here and so the centre of the island was occupied in prehistory.

O Davis, RCAHMW, 10 Jan 2012

2. In 2012 as part of the Skomer Island Project, geophysical survey was undertaken to evaluate the preservation of sub-surface archaeological features within areas cleared and improved in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. An area 200m south-east of the Old Farm at SM 728 093 was selected as a putative linear earthwork, aligned east-west, was identified through LiDAR in the adjoining field. Nine 20m x 20m squares were surveyed using a fluxgate gradiometer and the results of the survey showed buried evidence for an oval enclosure measuring 30m x 19m externally and 24m x 13m internally, with a larger but incomplete enclosure to the north. The curving, irregular form of the possible archaeological features is similar to some of the prehistoric enclosures and associated fields mapped elsewhere on the island.

Louise Barker, RCAHMW, Jan 2016

3. In April and September 2016 as part of the Skomer Island Project, geophysical survey was undertaken to evaluate the preservation of sub-surface archaeological features within areas cleared and improved in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Specifically trageted was the field immediately to the west of Island Farm, centred on SM 7250 0949. Here part of a large angled ditched anomaly, c.10m wide was discovered. This could potentially be an unrecorded enclosure or field boundary but needs to be verified through further investigation.

Louise Barker, RCAHMW, Feb 2017

Sources:
Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2012. Skomer Island and Skokholm Island, Archaeology in Wales 51, 160-163.

Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2012. Puffins amidst prehistory: reinterpreting the complex landscape of Skomer Island, in: Britnell, W. J. and Silvester, R. J. Reflections on the Past, Essays in Honour of Frances Lynch. Cambrian Archaeological Association. Welshpool. 280-302.

Johnston, B., Barker, L., Davis, O. and Driver, T. 2012. Geophysical Survey on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, April 2012. Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield & Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Unpublished Report.

Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2013. Skomer Island, Marloes & St Brides, Pembrokeshire [geophysics], Archaeology in Wales 52, 158-9.