Scheduled Monuments- Full Report
Summary Description of a Scheduled Monument
Reference Number
RD256
Name
Black Mixen, round barrow to NW of
Date of Designation
21/10/2005
Status
Designated
Location
Unitary Authority
Powys
Community
Llanfihangel Rhydithon
Easting
319096
Northing
265197
Broad Class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Site Type
Round Barrow
Period
Prehistoric
Description
Summary Description and Reason for Designation
The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.
The monument comprises the remains of a substantial round barrow, a burial mound probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated in enclosed rough moorland on the NW end of the Black Mixen ridge on Radnor Forest. The heather-covered barrow is circular on plan and measures about 24m in diameter and up to 1.3m in height. Although the W side of the monument has been disturbed and is generally lower, the base of the round barrow appears to be undisturbed. Traces of a surrounding ring ditch are visible, in places measuring up to 2m in width. The barrow is situated within boggy moorland - a Site of Special Scientific Interest - and has great archaeological and paleoenvironmental potential. The barrow possibly represents the remains of a platform cairn - the barrow displays no evidence of original 'bulk' indicating a rounded profile and is unlikely to have been extensively robbed. Excavated examples of platform cairns have been shown to be essentially ceremonial, although with a consistent link with the burial of the dead (some cremation burials have been revealed). Rituals involving the burning and deposition of charcoal, perhaps symbolic of the funeral pyre, would seem to have been important.
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The well-preserved 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 possibility that the barrow is an example of a more unusual structural class of burial monument, the platform cairn, further increases its importance.
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 35m in diameter.