View source for Newquay

=== Prehistoric period ===
There are some [[pre-historic]] [[burial mounds]] and an embankment on the area now known as ''The Barrowfields'', {{convert|400|m|yd|abbr=on}} from Trevelgue. There were once up to fifteen barrows, but now only a few remain. Excavations here have revealed charred cooking pots and a coarse pottery burial urn containing remains of a Bronze Age chieftain, who was buried here up to 3,500{{nbsp}}years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Barrowfields |url=http://www.newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk/local/?i=36 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901051500/http://www.newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk/local/?i=36 |archive-date=1 September 2009 |access-date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk }}</ref>

In 1987, evidence of a [[Bronze Age]] village was found at ''Trethellan Farm'', a site that overlooks the River Gannel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archaeological work at Scarcewater reveals rare & interesting finds |url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1143 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930030934/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1143 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Cornwall County Council }}</ref>

The first signs of settlement in the Newquay region consist of a late [[Iron Age]] hill fort/industrial centre which exploited the nearby abundant resources (including deposits of iron) and the superior natural defences provided by [[Trevelgue Head]]. It is claimed that occupation of the site was continuous from the 3rd century BC to the 5th or 6th century AD. A [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]] house was later built on the head.<ref>Interim account of 1939 excavation by C. K. Croft Andrew (1949)</ref>