MM013

Gaer-Llwyd Burial Chamber  

 

Designated  

Monmouthshire  

Shirenewton  

344768  

196739  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Chambered Tomb  

Neolithic  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, a burial monument dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4,400 BC - 2,900 BC). The burial chamber is located on the SW side of a field, adjacent to the road. It consists of a large capstone resting at an angle on three upright stones, with additional smaller stones to the NE and SW. The capstone is aligned NW/SE and is roughly triangular shape, with its widest end at the SE, and slopes towards the S and W. The capstone measures c 3.5m in length, 1.5m wide at its widest end, and 0.7m thick. At its S eastern end it is resting on two upright stones which are both c 1.3m in height, 1m wide and 0.4m in thickness. Underneath the capstone there are some small stones on the ground, and the stone it is resting on at its NW end has some smaller stones underneath its S side. To the SE of the capstone are four further stones besides the two it rests on. In all, including the capstone, there are twelve stones visible. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of Neolithic 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.