Scheduled Monuments- Full Report
Summary Description of a Scheduled Monument
Reference Number
GM557
Name
Twmpath Diwlith Round Barrow
Date of Designation
08/05/2003
Status
Designated
Location
Unitary Authority
Neath Port Talbot
Community
Margam
Easting
283221
Northing
188788
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 Ancient Monument.
The monument comprises the remains of a round barrow dating to the Bronze Age (2400 BC – 800 BC). The earthen mound is approximately 23m in diameter with a maximum height of 1.5m on the eastern side. A small depression in the top of the barrow is probably the site of an excavation made in 1921 on behalf of the National Museum of Wales by R.E.M. Wheeler. This showed that the barrow had originally been built of turves, covering a rough stone cist containing fragmentary burnt bones. At a later date the barrow had been enlarged with earth and a secondary interment was placed within the barrow. At the time of the excavation this secondary burial was found to be disturbed.
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 scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.