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Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb cairn is a prehistoric funerary monument located in Wales and protected as an ancient monument by Cadw under reference MG318. The cairn belongs to a distinctive class of Bronze Age burial structures characterised by a stone perimeter or kerb that defines and contains the main mound of stones. Such monuments typically date from the second millennium BC and were used to mark the burials of individuals of some social standing.
The cairn sits upon bedrock composed of Ordovician felsic tuff, part of the Extrusive Rocks formation laid down during the Ordovician period some 450 million years ago. This volcanic geology would have provided an available source of stone for cairn construction, though the builders may equally have gathered material from glacial deposits scattered across the upland terrain of Wales. The kerb structure typical of this monument type would have created a formally defined ceremonial space around the burial deposit.
Kerb cairns represent a significant phase in prehistoric burial practice, when communities invested considerable labour in constructing durable stone monuments to honour their dead. The survival of such structures across the Welsh landscape provides evidence of settlement patterns and social organisation during the Bronze Age, whilst their archaeological study continues to illuminate aspects of prehistoric ritual and belief.
Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MG318. View the official record →
Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb cairn is a prehistoric funerary monument located in Wales and protected as an ancient monument by Cadw under reference MG318.
Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb cairn dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a kerb cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb 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 MG318.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Croes y Forwyn cairns (3.2 km), Cil Haul Barrow (4.5 km), Llanwddyn Hospitium (4.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb cairn's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Afon y Dolau Gwynion kerb cairn stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Ordovician, bedrock that formed in the Ordovician. The rock here is felsic tuff.