ABSTRACT
Archaeology is likely to tell us most about the origins and development of the town of Cardiff, but there is a documentary and historical context to it which has to be accommodated. The Book of Llandaff and the records of Tewkesbury, Gloucester and Margam abbeys have something to say about the origins and contemporary importance of the future capital of Wales, and most particularly about its role as a centre of lordship in the Welsh March. The wider historical perspective also needs to be taken into account. Comparison with other such centres has much to tell us about the way that a place like Cardiff developed.
