GM287

Darren Fawr Round Cairns  

05/10/1961  

Designated  

Rhondda Cynon Taff  

Cwmbach  

303348  

202422  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of two burial cairns, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). The two cairns lie on a north-south orientation. The most northerly of the cairns is an irregular mound c. 16m in diameter and 1.5m high. It consists of a pile of stones largely covered by grass but exposed on the top. In the centre a cist measuring 1.2m by 0.75m wide by 1m deep is exposed in a hollow c. 1.5m deep. Large slabs of stone line two sides of it. There are more large stones on the surface of the top of the cairn. The southernmost cairn is round, 2m high with a flat top and a diameter of 15m. It is composed of small stones and has a large quarry hole in the middle, 3m in diameter and 1.5m deep. 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.