Pont Marteg, cairn circle to E of

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 a fine cairn circle, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated on a prominent S-facing terrace of Yr Wylorn, above a major bend in the Afon Marteg and commanding an excellent view to the W and the mouth of the valley. It measures about 6.5m in diameter and up to 0.5m in height. Six upright stones are visible in the kerb, all leaning outwards and measuring up to 0.7m in height. The grass-covered cairn has been disturbed in the past, leaving a large central hollow with what is probably the E side of a central cist now visible. This orthostat measures 1.8m in length from NNE to SSW.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual. 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 and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. The importance of the monument is further enhanced by its identification as a likely cairn circle, a particularly rare element within the surviving prehistoric ritual landscape.

The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is circular and measures 22m in diameter.