BR355

Carn Caws round cairn  

18/01/2007  

Designated  

Powys  

Llangynidr  

312969  

216777  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated in open moorland on the summit of Carn Caws, a ridge on the NE side of the Brecon Beacons that overlooks the Usk Valley. The stone-built cairn is circular on plan and measures about 16.5m in diameter and between 1m and 1.8m in height (on its SE and NW sides respectively). Although it has been disturbed in the past - a large shelter has been created within its top - the majority of the base of the cairn appears to remain intact and undisturbed. 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 structural evidence and intact burial or ritual deposits. The importance of the monument is further enhanced by the topographical association of the cairn with the large round cairn to the NNW (BR356) and to the well-preserved and unusual cairn cemetery that is situated on a terrace further to the NE (BR354). The scheduled area 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.