Neolithic Tombs in Glamorgan

and Monmouthshire

by Martin J. Powell

Unlike many of the long cairns in the Black Mountains, most of the tombs in Glamorgan and Monmouthshire (Gwent) are terminally chambered, i.e. with a simple chamber positioned immediately behind the forecourt. There are also a number of ‘miscellaneous’ or hybrid types, displaying individuality in design and construction.

A view looking East along the chamber and passage axis of the Heston Brake chambered tomb in Gwent (click for full-size image, 15 KB). The monument overlooks the Severn Estuary and may have been orientated towards the biannual equinoctial sunrises.

Two of the tombs in this list - Parc le Breos Cwm (108 KB, SS 537 898) and Pen-Maen Burrows (99 KB, SS 531 881) - have transepted chambers, where one or more pairs of side chambers branch off from the main passageway.

None of the tombs presented here have complex astronomical lines, all of them in fact representing the axis line of the main chamber and/or the long cairn. The best preserved (and restored) examples are Tinkinswood (103 KB, ST 092 733) and Parc le Breos Cwm, the latter having recently been radiocarbon dated to a period around the middle of the fourth millennium BC (Whittle & Wysocki 1998).

• The following table is a summary of the survey results. For a more detailed examination of the chambered tombs in South Wales (together with site plans and excavation details) see the accompanying article on the 'Orientations of Neolithic Tombs in Glamorgan and Gwent Counties'.

Survey Results (Explanation of Data Table)

Archaeoastronomical survey results for prehistoric chambered tombs in Glamorgan and Gwent counties, South Wales (click for full-size table, 25 KB)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHILDREN, George & NASH, George

1996  Prehistoric Sites of Monmouthshire (Monuments in the Landscape, Volume 4) (Logaston Press, Woonton Almeley), pgs. 38-40.

POWELL, T. G. E. (ed) et al

1969  "The Cotswold-Severn Group" by J. X. W. P. CORCORAN in Megalithic Enquiries in the West of Britain (Liverpool University Press, Liverpool), pgs. 13-106.

ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANCIENT & HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN WALES

1976  An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 1. Pre-Norman, Pt. 1: The Stone and Bronze Ages (HMSO, Cardiff).

WEBLEY, J.

1961  "Y Garn Llwyd, Newchurch, West Monmouthshire: A Reassessment" in The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies Vol. XIX, Pt.3 (University of Wales Press, Cardiff), pgs. 255-8.

WHITTLE, A. & WYSOCKI, M.

1998  "Parc le Breos Cwm Transepted Long Cairn, Gower, West Glamorgan: Date, Contents and Context" in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Vol. 64, pgs. 139-182.

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Prehistoric Sites in Wales

Prehistoric Sites in England

Prehistoric Sites in Scotland

Copyright  Martin J Powell  2001