Round Barrow SW of Maen Llia

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a ring cairn of earth and stone, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC); it stands on open moorland close to the Sennybride - Ystradfellte road and comprises an inner ring-bank, 9.5m in diameter, separated by a ditch from an outer bank, 17m in diameter, with traces of an outer ditch. The monument is roughly circular but is slightly elongated in an east-west direction, on which axis also there are signs, on the east, of an entrance through the rings. The gap in the inner ring is evident; the outer ring appears to be continuous but is much flattened at the site of the 'entrance', and there is a corresponding gap in the lower ditch. A modern drainage ditch with its accompanying bank has obliterated the outermost part of the site on the west and south western edge. The interior is flat and featureless.

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