Scheduled MonumentsWalesAberyscir Round Cairn
Prehistoric · Round Cairn

Aberyscir Round Cairn

Breconshire, Wales
Cadw SAM BR139
Period
Prehistoric
Site type
Round Cairn
Broad class
Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Nation
Wales
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Aberyscir Round Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR139. The monument sits upon bedrock of Lower Devonian rocks, a foundation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Early Devonian period. This underlying geology would have shaped both the landscape and the availability of stone for the cairn's construction.

Round cairns of this type typically date to the Bronze Age, serving as burial monuments for prominent members of prehistoric communities. Built from stones gathered from the surrounding terrain, they often contained cremated remains within central burial deposits or chambers. The specific geology of Aberyscir's location—the mixed sedimentary rocks of the Lower Devonian—would have influenced which stones were selected and how the cairn was engineered.

As a Cadw-protected monument, Aberyscir Round Cairn remains an important record of prehistoric funerary practice in Wales. The cairn's survival provides evidence of Bronze Age settlement patterns and social organisation in this region, whilst its position on the Lower Devonian bedrock demonstrates how ancient builders worked within the constraints and resources offered by their immediate geological setting.

Aberyscir Round Cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR139. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Aberyscir Round Cairn?

Aberyscir Round Cairn is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR139.

What period does Aberyscir Round Cairn date from?

Aberyscir Round Cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a round cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Aberyscir Round Cairn?

Aberyscir Round Cairn is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is BR139.

What other scheduled monuments are near Aberyscir Round Cairn?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Standing Stone near Traeth Bach (5.8 km), Waunfaeog Hillfort (5.9 km), Enclosure West of Nant Cwm Llwch (6.4 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Aberyscir Round Cairn

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Aberyscir Round Cairn's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Aberyscir Round Cairn

Aberyscir Round Cairn stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.