ME237

Bwlch y Rhiwgyr cairn  

30/06/2003  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Llanelltyd  

262712  

320048  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated within rough grazing on the NW-facing slopes below the Llawlech ridge. The grass-covered stony mound is circular on plan and measures about 12m in diameter and up to 0.7m in height. Several large boulders define its edge and bedrock is visible on the SE side. An exposed cist, measuring 1.5m from ESE to WNW by 0.5m transversely and 0.2m in depth, is visible in the centre of the cairn. A large capstone, measuring roughly 1.2m in length by 1.1m transversely, lies immediately to the SW. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is circular and measures 20m in diameter.