GM271

Coed Cae Round Cairns  

 

Designated  

Merthyr Tydfil  

Bedlinog  

309330  

199723  

Religious, Ritual and Funerary  

Round Cairn  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains eight burial cairns, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). Cairn A - A ring cairn measuring approximately 11m in diameter with a bank averaging 1.5m wide by 0.4m high. On the east side is one leaning inner kerbstone 1m wide and 0.5m high together with three smaller boulder-like stones possibly cleared from the field. Cairn B - A round cairn approximately 8m in diameter formed of a low bank 1.5m wide and 0.3m high with a group of large stones at the centre. Cairn C - A small oval shaped cairn covered in turf. Cairn D - Round cairn, turf covered with low mound. Cairn E - Round cairn, turf covered with low mound. Cairn F - Round cairn composed of a few larger flat slabs of rock of the type that outcrop throughout the vicnity where the soil is thin. Cairn G - Round cairn, turf covered with low mound. Cairn H - A diminutive mound covered by turf situated close to the south east corner of the field. 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 intact burial or ritual deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Cairns 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.