GM387

Round Cairn with Cist on Mynydd Drumau  

07/12/1976  

Designated  

Swansea  

Dyffryn Clydach  

272451  

200372  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). It stands 250m above OD on the ridgeway that runs across the top of Mynydd Drumau. The cairn is circular and measures approximately 15m in diameter and 0.6m high. Near the centre is a slab built cist, the southern slab of which, together with the cover slab is now missing. The cist must originally have been about 1.20m by 0.8m. The site was first recorded by Edward Llwyd in 1695 when it apparently still retained a revetment circle of large stones. An excavation in the early 19th century produced 'a heap of bones and an ancient celt, very much corroded'. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Cairns may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.