Cefn Cul ring cairn

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 ring cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated within enclosed moorland on the summit of a prominent S-facing ridge, overlooking the upper reaches of Glyn Tawe. The ring cairn is circular on plan and measures about 10m in diameter within a grass-covered earth and stone ring bank about 2.5m in thickness and up to 0.2m in height. The interior of the ring cairn appears slightly dished and both the interior and the ring bank appear largely undisturbed. A large stone is positioned centrally within the ring cairn and, although unusual, may be an original feature of the monument. The monument is difficult to distinguish from the surrounding landscape as a result of vegetation and peat.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. Excavated examples have shown these monuments to be essentially ceremonial - although with a consistent link with the burial of the dead (some cremation burials have been revealed). Rituals involving the burning and deposition of charcoal, perhaps symbolic of the funeral pyre, would seem to have been important. The well preserved monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence.

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 32m in diameter.