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Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument. The site sits on bedrock of Llandovery Rocks, comprising interbedded sandstone and conglomerate that would have been naturally exposed across the upland landscape when the cairn was constructed. This geology provided ready sources of stone for the monument's construction.
Round cairns of this type typically date to the Bronze Age and served as burial monuments, though their precise chronology and function varied across regions and centuries. The presence of two cairns at this location suggests either a multi-phase development of the site or successive burials within the same ritual landscape. The upland setting on Mynydd Bach is characteristic of Bronze Age funerary monuments in Wales, which frequently occupy prominent ridge positions commanding extensive views of surrounding terrain.
The monument's survival and protection reflect its archaeological significance within the broader pattern of prehistoric settlement and burial practice in Wales. The name itself preserves the Welsh landscape terminology: Mynydd Bach means 'little mountain', anchoring the site within its local topography and regional context.
Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD057. View the official record →
Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach is a prehistoric round cairn located in Wales and protected by Cadw as a scheduled ancient monument.
Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach 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.
Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach 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 CD057.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Hafod Ithel Deserted Rural Settlement (0.2 km), Hafod Ithel Cairn Cemetery (0.7 km), Moated Site at Trefenter (1.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach'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.
Two Cairns on Mynydd Bach stands on Llandovery Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.