Hafod Ithel Cairn Cemetery

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 twenty six prehistoric round cairns, burial mounds probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC). The cairns are situated on moorland at Hafod Ithel forming a cemetery area measuring some 200m by 150m with an outlying cairn c 50m N of the trig point. They range in diameter from c.2m to c.5m but few are above 0.5m in height. The majority have been disturbed and some of these show signs of broken cists within.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are important relics of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence. Cairnfields may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can be 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.