GM354

Mynydd y Gelli kerb cairn  

 

Designated  

Rhondda Cynon Taff  

Ystrad  

297570  

193988  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Kerb Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a Bronze Age kerb cairn, situated on a gently sloping north-west-facing terrace on the summit of Mynydd y Gelli and surrounded on all sides (bar the north-west) by slightly higher terrain. It survives as a partially complete orthostatic ring situated within open moorland, the interior of the site now largely devoid of stone. The kerb is circular on plan and measures about 9.5m in diameter and up to 0.4m in height; it is tilted slightly towards the NW. The cairn survives as a ring of eight orthostatic stones - but probably originally comprised fifteen stones, each set about 1.5m apart. No trace of a bank survives, if one existed - the build up of earth on the south-south-east arc is irregular and may represent spoil from the hole that has been opened within the south quarter of the interior. This hole is probably the result of antiquarian investigations recorded from the early 20th century. 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 and environmental and structural evidence. The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.