GM196

Round Cairn W of Arthur's Stone  

22/03/1950  

Designated  

Swansea  

Llanrhidian Lower  

249027  

190557  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). It is situated near to Arthur's Stone at 140m OD on the Cefn Bryn Ridge. This large circular flat-topped mound of stones measures approximately 20m in diameter and up to 0.7m high. Excavations in the 19th century are responsible for the holes in the middle and on the east side. The cairn was excavated again in the 1980s and found to contain: a pit underneath the stones containing the remains of burnt bone on a decayed timber plank. Sealed by the pre-cairn surface were a 3.2m long bedding trench, a pit, a posthole and a hearth. These were associated with sherds of Peterborough Ware and worked flint within a 35 sq.m area. 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, together with environmental and structural evidence. 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 within which related evidence may be expected to survive.