ME007

Carneddau Hengwm Long Cairns  

 

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Dyffryn Ardudwy  

261331  

320549  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Long Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument consists of the remains of two chambered long cairns, dating to the early Neolithic (c.4,200BC - 3,000BC) and situated on a wide expanse of upland, which slopes gently to the west. A long cairn is a roughly rectangular or trapezoidal mound of stone, usually between 25m and 120m long, with a length exceeding twice its greatest width. The mound may be edged with a timber or stone revetment, and contain one or more stone or wooden burial chambers at one end or in the body of the cairn with openings in its sides. ME007a - Southern Cairn A long cairn aligned on a northwest to southeast axis now measuring 56m in length by 20m in width, but presumably originally larger, with stone having been robbed to build enclosure walls in the surrounding area. At the eastern end of the cairn are the remains of a portal dolmen which consists of three upright slabs with an average width of 1.4m and the tallest of which is 2.2m in height. There are two large slabs lying on the ground west of the uprights which could be capstones. A second chamber in the cairn lies some 22m west of the portal dolmen and is built of drystone walling, with a capstone covering the top. Drystone walling between the two chambers is visible within the cairn material. It is visible for a length of 3m and height of 1.3m. A 19th century enclosure wall crosses the eastern end of the cairn. ME007b - Northern Cairn The smaller northern cairn has the same alignment as its neighbour and measures 30.5m in length by 15m in width. The cairn material is much denuded, destruction at the west end has been considerable, and thus it is not possible to state the exact dimensions of the original structure. One large slab which measures 3.6m in length and 2.75m in width lies on the bed of cairn material towards its western end, probably a capstone. Almost at the centre of the cairn can be seen the ruined walls of a roughly circular chamber of dry-built masonry having a diameter of c.3m. Some 4.6m east of the circular chamber are five slabs of stone set on edge, which indicate the former presence of two long, narrow rectangular chambers c.0.9m wide set across the cairn, one on each side of its axis. An interesting feature of the monument is the existence of straight lines of dry-built stone walling down the sides of the cairn, not parallel but converging slightly towards the west. They are built of flat slabs of slate type stone, quite distinct from the rest of the cairn material. The line of these revetment walls can be traced at the west end of the cairn also, although part of the face has been destroyed on the south side. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape, with the potential for the survival of environmental and structural evidence. Chambered long 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.