CN118

Cist Cerrig Burial Chamber & Cup Marked Rock  

 

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Dolbenmaen  

254339  

338407  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Tomb  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c.4,400 BC - 2,900 BC). Chambered tombs were built and used by local farming communities over long periods of time. There appear to be many regional traditions and variations in shape and construction. Three orthostats are arranged in a 'H' formation and are the remains of a portal dolmen (a chamber bounded by large upright stones which may originally have supported a large capstone). Apart from stones piled immediately around the base, there is no sign of an associated mound. The two side stones are each 2.3m high, the northern stone being 1.8m wide and the southern stone 1.6m wide. The central blocking stone is 2.1m in height and 1m in width. Twenty-three metres to the east of the uprights is a series of cup-marks on a rock outcrop. Ten cup-marks of varying size and clarity can be seen arranged in a line 2.3m in length, with a further two offset to the right of the line. 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 of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. The importance of this monument is enhanced further by its group value with the cup-marks on an adjacent rock outcrop. The scheduled areas comprise the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.