CM049

Carn Besi Burial Chamber  

 

Designated  

Carmarthenshire  

Cilymaenllwyd  

215626  

227685  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Tomb  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4,400 BC - 2,900 BC). Chambered tombs were built and used by local farming communities over long periods of time. There appear to be many regional traditions and variations in shape and construction. The burial chamber is situated in the corner of a field near a boundary fence which separates the field from a bank running alongside the A478. There is one large recumbent stone which measures, 2m in length, 2m wide and has a depth of 0.3m; it is possibly a capstone or slumped orthostat and lies on a small platform c. 0.5m high, with a line of small boulders on either side. 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. Chambered tombs 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.