Through a freak combination of weather and vegetation cover, an ancient farmstead, which is believed to date from the Bronze Age, has been discovered on the southern slopes of Carningli, near Newport.

The discovery was made by local author Brian John during one of his frequent scrambles on the mountainside.

Brian is convinced that the discovery points to a significant Bronze Age settlement on the slopes of Carningli. Archeologists recently mapped a group of four roundhouses on the north side of the mountain and Brian says he has since come across others.

However the south side settlement seems to be one of a kind centered around a circular stone wall which seems to be the base for a small roundhouse around four metres in diameter.

"Probably it had a low domed roof rather than a conical thatched roof like the bigger roundhouses of Castell Henllys," said the writer and geographer who has discovered traces of other buildings, paddocks and a lane around the farmhouse.

"I have walked within 20 metres of this site hundreds of times over the years" said Brian, "but I have never seen it before, probably because the bracken has been too high or because gorse or heather has hidden the stone walls."

"I am convinced that the "Carningli South" farmstead dates from the Bronze Age," he said. "This means that on Carningli we not only have a magnificent and well-preserved Iron Age hillfort, but also extensive traces of Bronze Age settlement dating from around 2,000 BC.

"There are at least 12 roundhouses on Carn Ingli. There must have been quite a community living there in the Bronze Age something that I hope will be further investigated by archeologists."