ME214

Allt Lwyd Cairn I  

14/05/2003  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Llanegryn  

261499  

307789  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises a large, impressive and largely intact example of a complex burial and ritual monument of the Early Bronze Age (c. 2000-1500 BC). It is 23m in diameter and stands 2m high. There appear to be two main phases in the development of the cairn. The first monument on the site was a large ring cairn (a circular bank of stones) or platform cairn some 23m in diameter and 1m in height. Over this was built a prominent kerb cairn, approximately 15m in diameter and 1.5m in height. The heap of stones making up the body of this second cairn was held in place by a kerb of upright stones, some of which are still visible at its northern and south-western edges. This feature gives rise to the term "kerb cairn". In the centre of the cairn are the remains of a stone box or "cist" which once held the body or ashes of those interred in the monument. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The monument offers an important insight into the evolution of ritual monuments during the Bronze Age and is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and preserved prehistoric ground surfaces below the monument, together with environmental and structural evidence. Cairns may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can be 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.