Saith-Maen Standing Stones

Cadw's 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 stone row, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). The row contains eight small stones set in a straight line, 7m long and orientated E/W. The largest of the stones is 0.61m wide and 0.51m high while the smallest is 0.1m wide and only partly visible above the turf. An excavation, undertaken in 1977, investigated the largest stone and the gap between the eastern two stones and the hollows of the excavation trenches are still visible.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Stone rows are often 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.