 Little evidence exists of settlements within the Rhondda during the Norman period . Unlike the communal dwellings of the Iron Age the remains of the Medieval buildings discovered in the area follow the pattern similar to modern farmsteads ; with separate holdings spaced out around the hillsides . The evidence of Medieval Welsh farmers comes from the remains of their buildings , with the foundations of platform houses having been discovered spaced out throughout both valleys . When the site of several platform houses at <unk> Common were excavated in the 1930s potsherds dating from the 13th @-@ 14th century were discovered . 
