DESCRIPTION of monuments

TABLE of monuments surveyed

Some of the ancient monuments in Wales in this category, characterised by their megalithic proportions, have famous names and have been studied and were written about repeatedly during the past 200 years. Originally, their mound shapes were either wedge-shaped, oblong, a few possibly round. Some of the most famous sites are, for example, Parc Cwm (SS 537898), Capel Garmon (SH 818543), Pentre Ifan (SN 099370), Ty Illtyd (SO 098264), Ty Isaf (SO 182291), Ffostill North (SO 179350), Pen y Wyrlod II (SO 151316), Gwernvale (SO 211192), Nicholaston (SS 508888) and Tinkinswood (ST 092733). Others are less well known, like the one illustrated here, i.e. Garn Goch (SO 212177). Some, even in the past, were excavated more than once (e.g. Ffostill, SO179349), but only recent re-excavations (e.g. Gwernvale, SO 211192) have shed proper light on the monuments’ history. Thus the existing classification of many of the sites remains relatively contentious and requires even further research. It is certain, however, that on the whole in Wales these monuments occurred predominantly in coastal & lowland regions and that inland/upland penetration was relatively sparse. In the course of time the architecture of chambered tombs changed. Statistical analysis suggests a gradual development from large chambered tombs to cists of varying shapes and sizes to cistless burial sites (see plan), a process which began at the periphery of Wales, two thirds of which is coastal. Many of the monuments in this category are likely to have been built at the beginning of this process, hence their characteristic distribution (see Roese,1985). However, there is still widespread disagreement amongst archaeologists as to the classification of chambered tombs. The accusation has even been made that certain workers persist with attempts to impose 'typological' classification. In the case of this survey the established distinction between the various monuments, current at the time of surveying, was tested within the given framework. This included the distinction between those monuments which had been grouped together by archaeologists in the past and those monuments which had not been apportioned to any particular group. If nothing else, the survey established the fact that monuments not apportioned to specific groups occur not only in much larger numbers across all altitudes up to 500 meters, but that they were erected in positions which the better known monuments were less frequently built on. It is more than likely that there was a reason for this discrepancy, a reason which remains to be discovered.