This is a very secluded site on a steep wooded ridge overlooking the River Taf, where the sound of roaring water fills the background.įour uprights support a large capstone forming a polygonal chamber beneath. One inland cromlech is Gwal Y Filiast, which we are told commonly translates as " Lair of the Greyhound Bitch", also referred to as Dolwilym (William's Meadow?), situated 6km south east of Crymych in Carmarthenshire, south west Wales, a delicately balanced capstone is all that remains of a Neolithic burial chamber, apparently denuded of its mound. Gwal Y Filiast (Karen Sawyer: Wikimedia Commons) Many of these megalithic structures are named after King Arthur, such as Bwrdd Arthur (Arthur’s Table), or Coetan Arthur (Arthur’s Quoit) the capstone often said to have been thrown some distance by the legendary king. The largest group is that of South-West Wales, consisting of 50 or so monuments spread across the modern counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. Archaeologists have categorised the megalithic chambered tombs of Wales into eight geographical groups: North Wales Anglesey Lleyn Peninsula Harlech Gower Peninsula Black Mountains South-East Wales and the South-West Wales group. The monuments of Wales exhibit a unique megalithic architecture, different from other areas of Britain and Europe, influenced by the culture of the Irish Sea zone. The shape of the capstone and their careful siting in the landscape suggests a different purpose altogether, although in our modern world in which we are disconnected from the landscape we struggle to understand how. Furthermore some capstones are covered in cupmarks, such as the destroyed monument at Trefael is it really conceivable that this highly decorated capstone was covered over? I would also question their primary function as burial chambers which is not supported by the minimal artefacts found within the chamber the few human remains or grave goods found at these monuments could easily have been placed through gaps in the portal stones as some later time. No doubt some flat-topped burial chambers, such as Capel Garmon, were covered over but when you look at the carefully selected shape of some of the capstones such as Llech-y-Tribedd mirroring the profile of Mynydd Carningli behind, can there really be any doubt. Surely this makes the suggestion that the capstone was completely covered over by a mound of earth or cairn of stones look absurd. Indeed the monuments appear to be positioned in such away to point to a specific landscape feature with some capstones seemingly mimicking a mountain profile against the skyline. For example, some monuments can be located within a kilometre of the coast but their careful siting denies visibility of the sea. The location of many of these monuments coincides with evidence for Mesolithic activity, such as coastal flint scatters, suggesting continuing over thousands of years with the portal dolmens emerging in the earliest Neolithic period which may account for the affinity of many monuments with the coast. It remains unclear why these huge stones were raised in this way, the giant capstone of Garn Turne is estimated to weigh more than 60 tons. Often a forecourt at the entrance would be delineated by other othostats forming a horn-shaped area of the cairn. The whole structure is said to have been covered over with a mound of earth or cairn of stones. A Portal Dolmen (known as “cromlech” in Wales, literally “bent stone”) is is defined as a Neolithic structure consisting of a large flat stone supported horizontally on two or more upright stones (orthostats), the enclosed area thought to have been used as a burial chamber. Limited dating evidence denies the construction of a solid chronology, however the Portal Dolmens are considered among the oldest megalithic structures in Europe if not the world. Recent studies have began to recognise the relationship between these monuments and local landscape. It is estimated that there is over 40,000 megalithic structures in Europe, traces of a prehistoric landscape stretching from the Iberian Peninsula to Norway. His cauldron lies in the river Taf below.” - Aubrey Burl, From Carnac to Callanish: The Prehistoric Stone Rows and Avenues of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale, 1993. The land is studded with standing stones, burial chambers and cairns, a natural outcrop known as Carn Arthur, a hilltop cairn called Bedd Arthur, ‘Arthur’s grave’, and five miles south-east of Cwm garw the tomb of his dog, Gwal Y Filiast, ‘the lair of the greyhound bitch’. “The whole region is Arthurian country where the part-historical, largely mythical king is said to have hunted.
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