Carn Nant-y-ffald cairn

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 burial cairn, probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC) and situated within open moorland on the S side of the rounded plateau of Cefn Bach, below and to the E of Gwar y Ty. The partially grass-covered stone built cairn measures about 11m in diameter and about 0.8m in height. The cairn has been disturbed in the past, presumably the result of antiquarian investigation or robbing. Several hollows are visible within the cairn material and a beautiful rectangular stone cist has been exposed just to the W of the centre. This cist measures 1.4m from NNW to SSE by 0.6m transversely within upright earth-set orthostats; it measures 0.4m in depth. A small drystone shelter has been constructed around the cist, open to the W.

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 the quality of the exposed stone cist - and by the by the group value formed by the proximity of the cairn to the nearby monument of a similar date, Carn Wen cairn (RD206).

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 28m in diameter.