Cornwall's Kings and a civilised, outward looking and trading Cornwall 1,000 years ago!

Early Cornish kings feasted on oysters, roast pork and fine wine, archaeologists have found.

Excavations at Tintagel Castle have also revealed they imported bowls from Turkey and glass goblets from Spain.

Findings from a dig last year have been released this week, as archaeologists return to the site to find out how people lived more than 1,000 years ago.

The first research excavations at the castle in decades unearthed finds from the late 5th and 6th Centuries.

This included the discovery of a rubbish dump where they found a cod cranial bone, animal bone fragments and oyster shells which suggest they were eaten by the early kings, experts said.

It is easy to assume that the fall of the Roman Empire threw Britain into obscurity, but here on this dramatic Cornish cliff top the Cornish built substantial stone buildings, used fine table wares from Turkey, drank from decorated Spanish glassware and feasted on pork, fish and oysters.

Jacky Nowakowski, project director at the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, said: "Our excavations at Tintagel last summer exceeded all expectations by partially revealing amazingly well-preserved stone walls, a slate floor and a flight of steps which belong to a pair of well-built buildings.

She said the plan for excavations this year was to open up a much larger area on the southern terrace to get a look at the scale and size of the buildings they had discovered and find out when they were built and how they were used.

Evidence so far suggests they were residential buildings which may have housed important members of the community who lived and traded at Tintagel more than 800 years ago, she said.

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