Carn Euny is a fine example of a Courtyard House Settlement, second only to Chysauster [also available as a downloadable leaflet]. Courtyard House Settlements are a uniquely West Penwith form of dwelling, which began to appear at the end of the Iron Age (about 500 BC) and continued to be occupied until the 4th-5th centuries AD (Romano-Cornish period). Each consisted of a small, well-built circular or oval enclosure, generally with a single entrance, usually containing a single round dwelling house and a number of outbuildings set around the periphery of an open court- yard. In the case of Carn Euny however, what eventually evolved from an earlier settlement were four interlocking courtyard houses, each containing a large courtyard, with adjoining spaces. Each house would have been roofed with thatch or turf over a timber framework, and the whole ‘village’ would have been a secure and self-contained unit. The inhabitants worked the surrounding fields, and there is no evidence of any tribal fighting here: the settlement was abandoned peacefully in about the 5th century AD.