Cefn Esgair-Carnau round cairn (N)

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 small burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated in open moorland on an upper terrace of the gentle SW-facing slopes at the head of the valley containing the Afon Hepste. The stone-built cairn is circular on plan and measures about 6m in diameter and up to 0.3m in height. Although there are signs of disturbance, including a small central hollow and a modern marker cairn, the cairn appears substantially intact, with a well-defined edge.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The well-preserved 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 structural evidence. The surrounding ground is boggy, suggesting that the potential for associated paleoenvironmental evidence is great.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is circular and measures 22m in diameter.