Nant y Gangen Ddu Round Cairns

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 two burial cairns, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC) and are located on sheltered, south-facing shelves with spectacular views across Dyffryn Tanat. Both cairns are made up of truf-covered heaps of boulders, with cairn I measuring 8m in diameter and 0.4m high and stands immediately to the south of a track which crosses Glan Hafon from east to west. Cairn II stands some 150m to the south and is 10m in diameter and stands 0.5m high. Slightly to the north-east of the centre of the cairn are the remains of a stone box or cist.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Cairns 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. It is in two parts: area A being a circle 12m in diameter centred on cairn I; area B a circle 15m in diameter centred on cairn II.