Editing Cardiff (section)

===Origins===
[[archaeology|Archaeological]] evidence from sites in and around Cardiff show that people had settled in the area by at least around 6000&nbsp;BC, during the early Neolithic: about 1,500 years before either [[Stonehenge]] or the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] was completed.<ref name="Coflein St L">{{Cite web |date=26 July 2007 |title=St Lythans Chambered Long Cairn, Maesyfelin; Gwal-y-Filiast, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/227289/details/ST+LYTHANS+CHAMBERED+LONG+CAIRN%2C+MAESYFELIN%3B+GWAL-Y-FILIAST/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717040000/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/227289/details/ST+LYTHANS+CHAMBERED+LONG+CAIRN%2C+MAESYFELIN%3B+GWAL-Y-FILIAST/ |archive-date=17 July 2012 |access-date=9 June 2009 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales }}</ref><ref name="Coflein Tink">{{Cite web |date=29 January 2003 |title=Tinkinswood Chambered Cairn, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94510/details/TINKINSWOOD+CHAMBERED+CAIRN/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519182602/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94510/details/TINKINSWOOD+CHAMBERED+CAIRN/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |access-date=9 June 2009 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales }}</ref><ref name="Coflein Cae">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Cae-Yr-Arfau; Cae'Rarfau Burial Chamber, site details, Coflein |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/93016/details/CAE-YR-ARFAU%3B+CAE%27RARFAU+BURIAL+CHAMBER/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519110846/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/93016/details/CAE-YR-ARFAU%3B+CAE%27RARFAU+BURIAL+CHAMBER/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |access-date=9 June 2009 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales }}</ref><ref name="Coflein Gwern">{{Cite web |date=10 February 2003 |title=Gwern-Y-Cleppa, Long Barrow, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/307811/details/GWERN-Y-CLEPPA%2C+LONG+BARROW/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519182557/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/307811/details/GWERN-Y-CLEPPA%2C+LONG+BARROW/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |access-date=9 June 2009 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales }}</ref><ref name="Stonehenge">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Your guide to Stonehenge, the World's Favourite Megalithic Stone Circle |url=http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/history.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930081506/http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/history.php |archive-date=30 September 2012 |access-date=9 June 2009 |work=Stonehenge.co.uk website |publisher=Longplayer SRS Ltd }}</ref> These include the [[St Lythans burial chamber]] near [[Wenvoe]], (approximately {{convert|4|mi|0|abbr=out|spell=on|disp=or}} west of Cardiff city centre); the [[Tinkinswood|Tinkinswood burial chamber]], near [[St. Nicholas, Vale of Glamorgan|St. Nicholas]] (about {{convert|6|mi|0|abbr=out|spell=on|disp=or}} west of Cardiff city centre), the Cae'rarfau [[Chambered tomb|Chambered Tomb]], [[Creigiau]] (about {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=out|spell=on|disp=or}} northwest of Cardiff city centre) and the Gwern y Cleppa [[long barrow]], near [[Coedkernew]], [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] (about {{convert|8|mi|0|abbr=out|spell=on|disp=or}} northeast of Cardiff city centre). A group of five [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] [[tumulus|tumuli]] is at the summit of the [[Garth Hill|Garth]], within the county's northern boundary.<ref name="Coflein Garth">{{Cite web |title=Garth Hill, Barrow I |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pls/portal/coflein.w_details?inumlink=6060351 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223142900/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pls/portal/coflein.w_details?inumlink=6060351 |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 December 2012 |access-date=30 September 2008 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |year=2008 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website }}</ref> Four [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] [[Hill fort#Britain|hill fort]] and [[Enclosure (archaeology)|enclosure]] sites have been identified within Cardiff's county boundaries, including [[Caerau Hillfort]], an enclosed area of {{convert|5.1|ha|acre|frac=4}}.<ref name="Coflein Graig">{{Cite web |title=Castle Field Camp E OF Craig-Llywn, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301309/details/CASTLE+FIELD+CAMP+E+OF+CRAIG-LLYWN/ |access-date=9 June 2009 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=22 October 2004 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519110841/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301309/details/CASTLE+FIELD+CAMP+E+OF+CRAIG-LLYWN/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Coflein Craigyparc">{{Cite web |title=Craig-Y-Parc, enclosure, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/91922/details/CRAIG-Y-PARC%2C+ENCLOSURE/ |access-date=9 June 2009 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |year=1990 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519182609/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/91922/details/CRAIG-Y-PARC%2C+ENCLOSURE/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Coflein Llwynda">{{Cite web |title=Llwynda-Ddu, Hillfort, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94599/details/LLWYNDA-DDU%2C+HILLFORT/ |access-date=9 June 2009 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=14 June 1989 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519110836/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94599/details/LLWYNDA-DDU%2C+HILLFORT/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Coflein Caerau">{{Cite web |title=Caerau Hillfort, site details |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94517/details/CAERAU+HILLFORT/ |access-date=9 June 2009 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=5 February 2003 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519110829/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/94517/details/CAERAU+HILLFORT/ |archive-date=19 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Cardiff Castle (Roman wall).jpg|thumb|left|Front wall of [[Cardiff Castle]]<br />part of the original Roman fort beneath the red stones]]

Until the [[Roman conquest of Britain]], Cardiff was part of the territory of the [[Silures]] – a [[Iron Age tribes in Britain|Celtic British tribe]] that flourished in the [[Iron Age]] – whose territory included the areas that would become known as [[Breconshire]], [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]] and Glamorgan.<ref name="Wales Hist 1">{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author-link=John Davies (historian) |title=A History of Wales |publisher=Penguin |year=1994 |location=London |pages=17–18 |isbn=0-14-014581-8 }}</ref> The {{cvt|3.2|ha|acre|frac=4|adj=on}} [[Cardiff Roman Fort|fort]] established by the [[Roman army|Romans]] near the mouth of the [[River Taff]] in AD&nbsp;75, in what would become the north western boundary of the centre of Cardiff, was built over an extensive settlement that had been established by the Romans in the 50s&nbsp;AD.<ref name="Coflein 2">{{Cite web |title=Cardiff Roman settlement – Site details – coflein |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301346/details/CARDIFF+ROMAN+SETTLEMENT/ |access-date=10 June 2009 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=30 August 2007 |work=RCAHMW website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727072730/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301346/details/CARDIFF+ROMAN+SETTLEMENT/ |archive-date=27 July 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated with {{lang|la|[[Isca Augusta]]}} ([[Caerleon]]) that acted as border defences. The fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued. However, by this time a civilian settlement, or {{lang|la|[[vicus (Rome)|vicus]]}}, was established. It was likely made up of traders who made a living from the fort, ex-soldiers and their families. A [[Roman villa]] has been discovered at [[Ely, Cardiff|Ely]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rees |first=William |title=Cardiff: A History of the City |publisher=The Corporation of the City of Cardiff |year=1969 |page=1 }}</ref> Contemporary with the [[Saxon Shore forts]] of the 3rd and 4th centuries, a stone fortress was established at Cardiff. Similar to the shore forts, the fortress was built to protect [[Britannia]] from raiders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rees |first=William |title=Cardiff: A History of the City |publisher=The Corporation of the City of Cardiff |year=1969 |page=2 }}</ref> Coins from the reign of [[Gratian]] indicate that Cardiff was inhabited until at least the 4th century; the fort was abandoned towards the end of the 4th century, as the last Roman legions left the province of Britannia with [[Magnus Maximus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rees |first=William |title=Cardiff: A History of the City |publisher=The Corporation of the City of Cardiff |year=1969 |page=3 }}</ref><ref name="Visit 1">{{Cite web |title=About Cardiff >> Cardiff History >> Cardiff History |url=http://www.visitcardiff.com/About-Cardiff/Cardiff-History.html |access-date=8 June 2009 |publisher=Cardiff & Co |year=2009 |work=The official website for Cardiff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511141305/http://www.visitcardiff.com/About-Cardiff/Cardiff-History.html |archive-date=11 May 2008 }}</ref>

Little is known of the fort and civilian settlement in the period between the Roman departure from Britain and the Norman Conquest. The settlement probably shrank in size and may even have been abandoned. In the absence of Roman rule, Wales was divided into small kingdoms; early on, [[Meurig ap Tewdrig]] emerged as the local king in [[Glywysing]] (which later became [[Glamorgan]]). The area passed through his family until the advent of the Normans in the 11th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rees |first=William |title=Cardiff: A History of the City |publisher=The Corporation of the City of Cardiff |year=1969 |pages=4–5 }}</ref>