Allt Lwyd Bronze Age Ritual Complex

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument comprises a group of impressive and largely intact burial and ritual monuments of the Early Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 1500 BC). There appear to be two main phases in its development. The first monument on the site was a large "ring cairn" (a circular bank of stones) some 20m in diameter, 1.5m wide and 0.5m in height. This is partially overlain to the south by a later burial cairn, approximately 15m in diameter and 1m in height.

The location of this group of monuments, in a commanding position on the very edge of the summit of Allt Lwyd, is unusual. Whereas burial cairns are often placed on such false crests to be visible from below, ring cairns are seldom so sited. The superimposition of such monuments is also rare, especially since excavation evidence from other sites suggests that ring cairns (used for ritual and ceremony) remained in use for longer than burial cairns.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features offer a significant insight into the evolution of Bronze Age ritual sites and are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape, retaining significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence and preserved prehistoric ground surfaces below the monuments. Cairns 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.