Tinkinswood or its full name Tinkinswood Burial Chamber (Welsh: Siambr Gladdu Tinkinswood), also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-y-Filiast and Maes-y-Filiast,[3] is a megalithicburial chamber, built around 6,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Cardiff, Wales.
The structure is called a dolmen,[1] which was the most common megalithic structure in Europe. The dolmen is of the Severn-Cotswold tomb type,[3][4] and consists of a large capstone on top, with smaller upright stones supporting it. The limestone capstone at Tinkinswood weighs approximately 40long tons and measures 24 feet (7.3m) x 14ft (4.3m);[3] it is thought to be the largest in Britain, and also in Europe.[5][6] It would have taken some 200 people to lift the stone into the correct position.[3] It was originally all covered by a mound of soil, which has been removed over time. The remaining mound behind the structure measures approximately 130ft (40m) x 59ft (18m) in size.[3]
History
The interior and exterior of the burial chamber
Tinkinswood was once a village but now all that remains is the burial chamber, which was built about 6000 BP,[7] about 1,000 years or so before Stonehenge was constructed.[4] The site was excavated in 1914,[3][4] and inside the chamber there were 920 human bones, which were nearly all broken. This showed that at least forty people of all ages and sexes were buried there during the Neolithic period; it would appear to be a burial chamber used by the whole settlement.[3] The corpses of the dead were probably left exposed before being moved into the burial chamber. Neolithic and Bell-Beaker style pottery has also been found, this showed that the burial chamber tomb was probably used by a community over a long period of time, maybe up until the early Bronze Age period.[3] Restoration work was carried out at the same time, with a brick pillar built to support the capstone.[3][4]
From the site two parallel lines of stones form an avenue leading away from the burial chamber to the south east. Along a second avenue to the north east lie many stones. A large single stone stands due east, and two flat parallel standing stones point to the top of the nearby Coed Sion Hill.[4]
The site is managed by Cadw,[5] a Welsh Government body responsible for the protection, conservation and promotion of the built heritage of Wales. In October 2011, new excavations began at the site.[8]
Myths and legends
The construction of megalithic burial chamber and related funerary monuments took place in various parts of Europe during the Early Neolithic (known distribution pictured)
Many of the myths and legends of Tinkinswood are also associated with the nearby burial site of St Lythans, a short distance away.[6] Legend has it that anyone who spends a night at Tinkinswood on the evenings before May Day, St John's Day (23 June), or Midwinter Day would either die, go mad, or become a poet.[3] This legend is similar to the general legend about mountain tops. The group of boulders to the south east of the monument are said to be women who were turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath day, another legend which is associated with dolmens.[6]
A dolmen or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic period and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton".
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
Bryn Celli DduWelsh pronunciation: [brʌn keːɬi ðɨː] is a prehistoric site on the Welsh island of Anglesey located near Llanddaniel Fab. Its name means 'the mound in the dark grove'. It was archaeologically excavated between 1928 and 1929. Visitors can get inside the mound through a stone passage to the burial chamber, and it is the centrepiece of a major Neolithic Scheduled Monument in the care of Cadw. The presence of a mysterious pillar within the burial chamber, the reproduction of the 'Pattern Stone', carved with sinuous serpentine designs, and the fact that the site was once a henge with a stone circle, and may have been used to plot the date of the summer solstice have all attracted much interest.
Bodowyr Burial Chamber is a Neolithic burial chamber made of a few large stacked stones in a farmer's field on the north Wales island of Anglesey. It is located at Bodowyr Farm, 1.25 mi (2.0 km) east of Llangaffo, off the B4419 road.
Wenvoe is a village, community and electoral ward between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby are the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the site of the former HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse Cross which is now a housing estate. It is home to the Wenvoe Quarry and Wenvoe Castle Golf Club.
Pentre Ifan is the name of an ancient manor in the community and parish of Nevern, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is 11 miles (18 km) from Cardigan, Ceredigion, and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Newport, Pembrokeshire. Pentre Ifan contains and gives its name to the largest and best preserved neolithic dolmen in Wales.
The dolmens of Jersey are neolithic sites, including dolmens, in Jersey. They range over a wide period, from around 4800 BC to 2250 BC, these dates covering the periods roughly designated as Neolithic, or “new stone age”, to Chalcolithic, or “copper age”.
The history of Cardiff—a City and County Borough and the capital of Wales—spans at least 6,000 years. The area around Cardiff has been inhabited by modern humans since the Neolithic Period. Four Neolithic burial chambers stand within a radius of 10 mi (16 km) of Cardiff City Centre, with the St Lythans burial chamber the nearest, at about 4 mi (6.4 km) to the west. Bronze Age tumuli are at the summit of Garth Hill, within the county's northern boundary, and four Iron Age hillfort and enclosure sites have been identified within the City and County of Cardiff boundary, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 ha. Until the Roman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of an Iron Age Celtic British tribe called the Silures, which included the areas that would become known as Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. The Roman fort established by the River Taff, which gave its name to the city—Caerdydd, earlier Caerdyf, from caer (fort) and Taf—was built over an extensive settlement that had been established by the Silures in the 50s AD.
Lligwy Burial Chamber is a Neolithic burial chamber in Lligwy, near the east coast of Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom. It consists of a circle of upright stones, made into a low chamber by a very large roof slab estimated at 25 tonnes. Excavation in 1909 found the remains of some 15 to 30 people, and pottery suggesting a late Neolithic date. Close to the village of Moelfre, the site is within a few metres of the road, where there is room to leave a single car for short periods.
The St Lythans burial chamber is a single stone megalithic dolmen, built around 4,000 BC as part of a chambered long barrow, during the mid Neolithic period, in what is now known as the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
St Lythans is an affluent hamlet and former parish in the Vale of Glamorgan, southeast Wales, just outside western Cardiff. It lies southwest of Culverhouse Cross, west of Wenvoe and southwest of Twyn-yr-Odyn and is also connected by road from Dyffryn and the Five Mile Lane in the west. It is one of the wealthiest communities in the Vale of Glamorgan, containing some notable mansions and cottages, valued on average at over £500,000 as of 2011. The megalithic St Lythans burial chamber, over 6000 years old, lies 1 km to the west of the village and the hamlet also contains the St.Lythans Parish Church or Church of St Bleddian, a Grade II* listed building.
Parc Cwm long cairn, also known as Parc le Breos burial chamber, is a partly restored Neolithic chambered tomb, identified in 1937 as a Severn-Cotswold type of chambered long barrow. The cromlech, a megalithic burial chamber, was built around 5850 years before present (BP), during the early Neolithic. It is about seven 1⁄2 miles (12 km) west south–west of Swansea, Wales, in what is now known as Coed y Parc Cwm at Parc le Breos, on the Gower Peninsula.
In the area of present-day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, up to 5,000 megalith tombs were erected as burial sites by people of the Neolithic Funnelbeaker (TRB) culture. More than 1,000 of them are preserved today and protected by law. Though varying in style and age, megalith structures are common in Western Europe, with those in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern belonging to the youngest and easternmost—further east, in the modern West Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland, monuments erected by the TRB people did not include lithic structures, while they do in the south (Brandenburg), west and north (Denmark).
Tholos de El Romeral, situated 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north east of the town of Antequera (Andalusia), is one of the most important examples of Neolithic architecture in southern Europe. Tholos de El Romeral, also known as Cueva de Romeral and Dolmen de Romeral, is a megalithic burial site built circa 1800 BCE. It is one of three tombs in region, the others being Dolmen de Menga and Dolmen de Viera, both situated to the south west.
Tŷ Newydd Burial Chamber is a Neolithic dolmen located northeast of the village of Llanfaelog on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It is located near Tŷ Newydd farm, and is in the care of Cadw.
Presaddfed Burial Chamber is a listed monument in Anglesey, north Wales, comprising two Neolithic chamber tombs. It is a scheduled ancient monument and is located a short distance northwest of Bodedern. It is maintained by Cadw.
Din Dryfol is a Neolithic burial chamber on Anglesey, in Wales. It is a scheduled monument and is maintained by Cadw. The monument is near Bethel. Three phases of use have been identified, all dating from the Neolithic period.
Trefignath is a Neolithic burial chamber near Trearddur, south of Holyhead on Holy Island, off Anglesey in Wales. In its most complete form it included a large cairn covering three stone tombs, set on a small knoll. It was excavated between 1977 and 1979, revealing several phases of occupation with three separate burial chambers built in succession. It is a scheduled ancient monument, maintained by Cadw.
Knockmaree Dolmen, or Knockmaree Cist, is a prehistoric site of the Neolithic period, in Phoenix Park just north of Chapelizod, near Dublin, Ireland. Other forms of the name are Knockmary or Knockmaroon Dolmen, or Cnoc-Maraidhe.
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