GM599

Cefn Cil-sanws, cairn on SW side of  

29/06/2009  

Designated  

Merthyr Tydfil  

Vaynor  

302499  

209816  

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 is situated in open moorland on the south-west-facing slopes of Cefn Cil-sanws, a ridge on the south side of the Brecon Beacons that overlooks Cwm Taf. The stone-built cairn is circular on plan and measures about 11.5m in diameter and 0.4m in height. 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 and several stretches of kerb stones are visible. 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 well preserved ring cairn to the north (GM567) and to the cairn cemetery that is situated on a terrace further to the north-east (GM568). The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.