Mwdwl Eithin Round Barrows

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of four earthen built round barrows, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c.2300 - 800 BC). The barrows are circular in shape on plan and have a rounded profile and lie on a long ridge which runs N-S.

Barrow A - a large round barrow 26m in diameter and 3.5m high. There is an OS pillar on the summit and a large boulder lying on the S side.

Barrow B - a round barrow 25m across and 1m high. Excavated in 1911/12 when a ring of stones 12.1m in diameter was found under the mound. Three cremation deposits were identified, two unprotected deposits of ashes and calcined bones, and one of incinerated bones beneath an urn in a rough cist. Two flint implements were found with one of the unprotected deposits.

Barrow C - a large round barrow 22m in diameter and 2m high. A fence crosses over the top of it.

Barrow D - a low stony feature to the E of Barrow C, 5m in diameter and 0.25m high, which may be the remnants of a barrow or cairn.

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. The importance of the barrows is 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.