Parc Cwm long cairn
City and County of Swansea, Wales | |
Coordinates | 51°35′18″N 4°06′45″W / 51.5883°N 4.1126°W |
---|---|
Type | chambered tomb[1] |
History | |
Periods | Neolithic |
Site notes | |
Condition | nearly intact |
Parc Cwm long cairn (
A trapezoidal cairn of rubble – the upper part of the cromlech and its earth covering now removed – about 72 feet (22 m) long by 43 feet (13 m) (at its widest), is revetted by a low dry-stone wall. A bell-shaped, south-facing forecourt, formed by the wall, leads to a central passageway lined with limestone slabs set on end. Human remains had been placed in the two pairs of stone chambers that lead from the passageway. Corpses may have been placed in nearby caves until they decomposed, when the bones were moved to the tomb.
The cromlech was discovered in 1869 by workmen digging for road stone. An
Parc Cwm long cairn lies in a former
History
From the end of the last
Human lifestyles in
Severn-Cotswold tombs
The cromlech at Parc le Breos Cwm is one of 120–30 sites identified as belonging to the category of long barrow tomb known as the
Constructed during the Neolithic, cairns in the Severn-Cotswold tradition share several characteristics: an elongated trapezoidal (or wedge) shape up to 328 feet (100 m) long; a cairn (a mound of deliberately placed stones or rocks erected as a memorial or marker); a revetment (retaining wall) of carefully constructed dry-stone walling that also defines a horned forecourt at the widest end; huge capstones supported by orthostats; and a chamber (or chambers) in which human remains were placed, accessible after the cairn was completed by way of a gallery (passageway). Diverse internal transept chamber plans exist within the group. The earlier tombs contained multiple chambers set laterally, or pairs of transept chambers leading from a central passageway; the later, terminally chambered tombs, contained a single chamber.[1][19][20]
As the name implies, Severn-Cotswold cairns are concentrated mainly to the east of the River Severn, in and around the Cotswolds, in present-day England. However, similar Severn-Cotswold type structures have been identified in south east Wales – between Brecon, Gower and Gwent – and in Capel Garmon (near Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, north Wales), Wayland's Smithy (Oxfordshire, England) and Avebury (Wiltshire, England).[21] As well as monuments to house and to honour their departed ancestors, these cromlechs may have been communal and ceremonial sites where, according to archaeologist Francis Pryor, people met "to socialise, to meet new partners, to acquire fresh livestock and to exchange ceremonial gifts".[22]
Parc Cwm long cairn is one of six chambered tombs discovered on Gower and one of 17 in what is commonly known as Glamorgan.[1][23] Severn-Cotswold cairns are the oldest surviving examples of architecture in Great Britain – Parc Cwm long cairn was built about 1,500 to 1,300 years before either Stonehenge or the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt was completed.[17][24][25]
Features
The
The cromlech consists of a north–south aligned long mound of locally obtained rocks and
At the entrance to the tomb the kerbs sweep inwards to form a pair of deep protrusions, or horns, forming a narrow bell-shaped forecourt. A straight central passageway (or gallery), 21 feet (6 m) long by 3 feet (1 m) wide, orientated north–south, leads from the forecourt into the cairn. Each side of the passageway is lined with thin limestone slabs known as orthostats, placed on end and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) high with a coursed dry-stone infill between the slabs. Two pairs of rectangular transept chambers lead from the passageway, averaging 5+1⁄2 feet (1.6 m), east–west, by 3+1⁄4 feet (1.0 m); or "6 ft by 2 ft", according to Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1886. Each, except the south west chamber, has shallow limestone sillstones at its entrance.[1][28][30][31][32][33]
Archaeologist R J C Atkinson believed that (unusually among cairns in the Severn-Cotswold tradition) Parc Cwm long cairn had been built beside a stream that now flows underground. He noted that the stones on the eastern side had "marked signs of erosion and rounding by silt-laden flood-water".[34]
Originally, the transept chambers would have been covered with one large (or several smaller) capstones, enclosing the chambers containing human remains. The earth covering and the upper part of the cromlech have been removed, leaving the passageway and lateral chambers fully exposed. There is no record of a capstone having been discovered.[1][28]
Excavation
Workmen digging for road stone discovered the site in 1869.
An excavation led by
At Parc Cwm long cairn a variety of mortuary practices was evident and the deliberate ordering of skeletal parts noticeable. Whittle and Wysocki (1998) note cremated human remains were placed only in the front, right (south–east) chamber, where females and males, and all age ranges were represented. The south–east chamber was also unusual in that it contained nearly three times as many individuals as in each of the other chambers, which contained the remains of all representative groups except younger children and infants. At the forecourt entrance Atkinson recorded finds, deposited in groups, including: flint
Following the excavation led by R J C Atkinson in 1960, the cromlech was placed under the guardianship of the then Ministry of Public Building and Works and, in 1961, was partly restored.[37] Atkinson made "minimal" excavation records, and no report of it was published until Whittle and Wysocki's detailed report in 1998.[37] In it, they suggest that corpses may have been placed in caves near the cromlech until they decomposed, when the bones were moved to the tomb; a process known as excarnation.[39][40]
Analysis
Few human remains survive in Great Britain from
The skeletal remains of over 40 individuals were recovered from the cromlech at Parc le Breos Cwm, some of which showed evidence of weathering and of biting and gnawing by animals.[40] This suggests the corpses lay exposed to decompose and were interred in the burial chambers defleshed, as parcels of bone. Skeletal remains from the passageway were part–articulated, showing no sign of animal scavenging, suggesting they were placed in the cromlech as fleshed corpses. Whittle and Wysocki note that among the human remains are the bones of "8 dogs, a cat, a red deer, pig, sheep and cattle". They speculate that the two caves near the cromlech were used as depositories for the corpses prior to decomposition, and that when the bones were collected from the caves for reinterment others already lying in the cave were unwittingly gathered too.[1][39]
Radiocarbon dated samples from the cromlech show the tomb was accessed by many generations over a period of 300–800 years, and that the human bones are the disarticulated remains (i.e., not complete skeletons) of at least 40 individuals: male and female adults, adolescents, children, and infants.[39] One of the red deer bones has been radiocarbon dated to between 2750 BP and 2150 BP, showing that at least some of the bones entered long after the site had been deserted.[1]
Lifestyle indicators
Examination of the bones from which stature could be estimated, indicate that the male mortuary population were "big men" – the 1869 report notes males of "gigantic proportions" – whereas the females were "short and gracile".[41] Pollard notes that males analysed from Parc Cwm long cairn were "particularly robust" when compared to females.[42]
Prior to the publication of Whittle and Wysocki's 1998 report, bones and teeth of the mortuary population of Parc Cwm long cairn were re-examined for indications of lifestyle and diet.
Musculoskeletal analysis showed significant gender lifestyle variation. Greater leg muscle development was found in males of the Parc Cwm cromlech, possibly the result of hunting or herding, confirming the sexual dimorphism found in previous analyses of the remains.[41] In contrast, no such variation was noticeable in the remains found during excavations from other nearby sites, for example the Tinkinswood burial chamber, in the Vale of Glamorgan. The variation in musculoskeletal stress markers may indicate a mobile lifestyle for at least some of the males analysed.[39][42]
Evidence obtained from stable
Remains of human teeth were analysed for evidence of arrested development and
Whittle and Wysocki conclude, from the skeletal and dental analyses, that the lifestyles of the people who were to be interred in the cromlech either continued to be one of hunting and gathering or, more likely, a pastoral life of herding, rather than one of agrarian-based farming.[39][42][43]
Cathole Cave
The Cathole Cave, Cat Hole Cave or Cathole Rock Cave, is a steep limestone outcrop, about 200 yards (180 m) north of the cromlech along the Parc le Breos Cwm valley and near the top of the gorge, about 50 feet (15 m) from the valley floor. The cave is a deep triangular fissure penetrating the hillside and narrowing towards the top. It has two entrances, with a natural platform outside the larger of the two.[32][45]
The cave was used as a shelter by bands of
A 1984 excavation by Aldhouse-Green revealed the earliest finds from the cave, two tanged points that may date to c. 28,000 BP, an interglacial period during the Late Pleistocene roughly contemporaneous with the Red Lady of Paviland. The "lady" was discovered in a cave between Port Eynon and Rhossili, about eight miles (13 km) west of Cathole Cave, and has been radiocarbon dated to c. 29,000 BP, the oldest known human burial in Great Britain.[45][47]
Rock art from the Upper Paleolithic, thought to represent a reindeer, was discovered on the back wall of Cathole Cave in September 2010. The engraving, measuring approximately 15 x 11 cm, has been radiocarbon dated to 14,505 ± 560 BP. According to George Nash, the archeologist who made the discovery, it is "the oldest rock art in the British Isles, if not north-western Europe".[48][49]
Several finds date to the Bronze Age, including a bronze socketed axe, two human skeletons, and sherds of pottery from burial urns and other vessels.[45]
Llethryd Tooth Cave
An excavation of the Llethryd Tooth Cave, or Tooth Hole cave, a Bronze Age ossuary site at a cave about 1,500 yards (1.4 km) north, north west of the cromlech, was carried out by D. P. Webley and J. Harvey in 1962. It revealed the disarticulated remains of six people, dated to the Early Bronze Age or
Location
The Neolithic cromlech at Parc le Breos is about seven 1⁄2 miles (12 km) west south–west of
Parc Cwm long cairn lies on the floor of a dry, narrow, limestone
Coed y Parc is owned and managed by Natural Resources Wales. The site is open to the public free of charge and has parking for 12–15 cars about 750 feet (230 m) away. Facing the car park on the opposite side of the lane, a kissing gate allows wheelchair access to a level asphalt track running past the cromlech down the length of the gorge, passing within about 10 feet (3.0 m) of the cairn. Parc Cwm long cairn is maintained by Cadw (English: to keep), the Welsh Government's historic environment division.[54][55]
See also
- 4th millennium BC
- 5th millennium BC
- Bioarchaeology
- Britons (historic)
- Cove (standing stones)
- Forensic archaeology
- Knapping
- List of Cadw (Welsh Heritage) Properties
- Palaeopathology
- Passage grave
- Prehistoric archaeology
- Prehistory
- Tumulus
- Welsh placenames
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Parc le Breos burial chamber;Parc Cwm long cairn". The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ a b c Davies 1994, pp. 4–5
- ^ Aldhouse-Green 2001a, p. 13
- ^ "Overview: From Neolithic to Bronze Age, 8000–800 BC (Page 1 of 6)". BBC History website. BBC. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ Davies et al. 2008, pp. 647–648
- ^ "The University of Exeter – HuSS – Department of Archaeology". The University of Exeter – Department of Archaeology website. University of Exeter. 27 September 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
- ^ Evans & Lewis 2003, p. 4
- ^ Davies et al. 2008, p. 296
- ^ a b "Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Sites in Southeast Wales". Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust website. Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
- ^ Evans & Lewis 2003, pp. 47–50
- ^ Davies 1994, p. 6
- .
- ^ Sample, Ian (19 January 2010). "Most British men are descended from ancient farmers". Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ a b Pollard 2001, p. 17
- ^ Pollard 2001, p. 24
- ^ Davies 1994, p. 7
- ^ a b Davies et al. 2008, p. 605
- ^ Lynch 2008, p. 48
- ^ a b Thomas 1999, p. 144
- ISBN 9780191842788.
- ISBN 9780631235835. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
- ^ "Overview: From Neolithic to Bronze Age, 8000–800 BC (Page 3 of 6)". BBC History website. BBC. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ Evans & Lewis 2003, pp. 6 & 7
- BBC Cymru/Wales. 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ "Your guide to Stonehenge, the World's Favourite Megalithic Stone Circle". Stonehenge.co.uk website. Longplayer SRS Ltd (trading as www.stonehenge.co.uk). 2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ "Parc le Breos burial chamber;Parc Cwm long cairn: Online Images:Coflein". The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. 29 March 1994. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
- ^ Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 140
- ^ a b c d e "Gower064 Parc le Breos". Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust website. Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ a b Whittle & Wysocki 1998, pp. 144–145
- ^ "The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust – Projects – Archaeology in the Forest-Prehi". The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust website. The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ a b c Castleden 1992, p. 382
- ^ a b c "Full text of "Archaeologia Cambrensis: a record of the antiquities of Wales and its Marches and the journal of the Cambrian Archaeological Association"". Google Books. London: Cambrian Archaeological Association. 1886. p. 344. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
- ^ Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 143
- ^ Whittle & Wysocki 1998, pp. 146–147
- ^ a b Daniel 1950, pp. 74–76
- ^ Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 150
- ^ a b c Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 141
- ^ a b Whittle & Wysocki 1998, pp. 161–162
- ^ ISSN 0079-497X. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d Pollard 2001, p. 22
- ^ a b Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 163
- ^ a b c d Pollard 2001, p. 20
- ^ a b Pollard 2001, p. 19
- ^ Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 165
- ^ a b c d e f g "Cat Hole Cave, Parkmill". The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. 3 December 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Cathole Cave, Gower, Stone Age shelter". Casglu'r Tlysau—Gathering the Jewels—The website for Welsh Cultural History. Culturenet Cymru. 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
- ^ "Channel 4 – News – Red Lady skeleton 29,000 years old". Channel 4 website. Channel 4. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ {{cite web |author=George Nash |title=2011 Nash on Cathole for Arkeos, Low res. |url=https://www.academia.edu/1202009 | via=Academia.edu|year=2011 }
- ^ "Gower cave reindeer carving is Britain's oldest rock art". BBC News Online website. BBC. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ "Tooth Cave-Site Details-Coflein". The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. 11 July 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ Whittle & Wysocki 1998, p. 177
- ^ "Parc le Breos, Medieval Deer-park". The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Parc-le-Breos". Parc-le-Breos website. Parc-le-Breos. 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
- ^ "About Cadw". Cadw website. Cadw, a division of the Welsh Assembly Government. 2008. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- Welsh Assembly Government. 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- Bibliography
- Castleden, Rodney (1992). Neolithic Britain: new stone age sites of England, Scotland and Wales. London: ISBN 978-0-415-05845-2. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
- OCLC 1593341. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-14-014581-6.
- ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
- Evans, Edith; Lewis, Richard (2003). "The Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Monument Survey of Glamorgan and Gwent: Overviews. A Report for Cadw by Edith Evans BA PhD MIFA and Richard Lewis BA" (PDF). Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. 64. Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
- Lynch, Frances (2008). Megalithic tombs and long barrows in Britain. Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire: ISBN 978-0-7478-0341-6. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- Aldhouse-Green, Stephen (2001a). "Wales' Hidden History, Hunter-Gatherer Communities in Wales; The Paleolithic". In ISBN 978-0-7524-1983-1.
- Aldhouse-Green, Stephen (2001b). "Wales' Hidden History, Hunter-Gatherer Communities in Wales; The Mesolithic". In ISBN 978-0-7524-1983-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7524-1983-1.
- ISBN 978-0-415-20766-9. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ISSN 0079-497X. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
- "Parc Cwm long cairn". Megalithic Portal.
External links
- Research Framework for the Archaeology of Wales: Key Sites Southeast Wales – Neolithic and earlier Bronze Age
- Britain Express, The Neolithic Era (c. 4000 - 2000 B.C.)
- Cantre'r Gwaelod – The Lost Land of Wales
- Waymarking – Megalithic monuments
- Casglu'r Tlysau/Gathering the Jewels – Welsh Heritage and Culture
- Archaeology in Wales
- Photos of Parc Cwm long cairn and surrounding area on Geograph
- Photos of Llethryd Tooth Cave on ogof.org