Gelli Burial Chamber

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

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

The monument consists of the remains of a chambered round cairn, a Neolithic or Bronze Age (c 4,200BC - 800BC) burial monument comprising a stone-built chamber within a circular or sub-circular stone built mound.

The cairn and chamber lie on the edge of a scarp forming the edge of the flood plain of the river Towy. The kidney shaped mound is stony and measures 8m on its north-south axis and 10m along its east-west axis The burial chamber lies to the north of the centre of the mound and measures c. 3m along its east-west axis and 1.8m in width, two sides and part of a third being defined by three orthostats which remain in situ and protrude several centimetres from the surface of the mound. South of the chamber are two capstones lying on the surface of the mound.

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. Chambered round barrows 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.