St Lythans burial chamber
Encyclopedia
The St Lythans burial chamber is a single stone megalith
ic dolmen
, built around 6,000 BP
(before present
) as part of a chambered long barrow
, during the mid Neolithic
period, in what is now known as the Vale of Glamorgan
, Wales
.
It lies about 1km to the west of the hamlet of St Lythans
, near Dyffryn Gardens
. It also lies around one mile (1.6 km) south of Tinkinswood burial chamber
, a more extensive cromlech
that it may once have resembled, constructed during the same period.
The site is on pasture land, but pedestrian access is allowed and is free, with roadside parking available for 2–3 cars about 50 yards (45.7 m) from the site.
The dolmen, which has never been fully excavated, is maintained by Cadw
(to keep), the Welsh Historic Environment Agency.
. Roadside parking is available, for 2—3 cars, about 50 yards (45.7 m) from the site, which is maintained by Cadw
, the Welsh Historic Environment Agency. Access to the field, which slopes gently downwards towards the north west, is permitted, and is free, via a kissing gate
. There is no wheelchair access, although there is an uninterrupted view of the site from the gate, about 50 yards (45.7 m) away.
is a dolmen
, the most common form of megalithic structure in Europe. It stands at the eastern end of a flat topped, 27 metres (88.6 ft) long, 11 metres (36.1 ft) wide earthen mound, forming part of a chambered long barrow
. It is one of the Severn-Cotswold
type, and consists of a cove
of three upright stones (orthostats), supporting a large, flat, capstone. All the stones are mudstone
, which, as with those used at Tinkinswood, were probably available locally. The capstone, which slopes downwards from south east to north west (the left side of the entrance towards the back, right), measures four metres (13 ft) long, three metres (10 ft) wide, and 0.7 metres (2.3 ft) thick. The insides of the two facing, rectangular, uprights have been smoothed off and there is a port-hole at the top of the triangular, rear stone, similar to some other dolmens, such as at Trethevy Quoit
, in Cornwall
. The burial chamber
has a minimum internal height of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) and is in an east/west alignment, with the entrance facing east.
As with most cromlech
s, it is likely that originally, the burial chamber would have had a forecourt immediately outside the entrance to the chamber and the chamber would have been covered by a mound of earth and smaller stones. This has either been eroded, or removed, over time, leaving only a much lower barrow behind the current structure. However, as the chamber is unusually tall, it is possible that the capstone was never fully covered.
(between 10,000 and 12,000 BP
), mesolithic
hunter-gatherers from Central Europe
began to migrate
to Great Britain
. They would have been able to walk between Continental Europe
and Great Britain on dry land
, prior to the post glacial rise in sea level, up until between 6,000 and 7,000 BP. As the area was heavily wooded and movement would have been restricted, it is likely that people also came to what was to become known as Wales
by boat from the Iberian Peninsula
. These neolithic
colonists
integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering
, to become settled farmers. They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land. They built the long barrow
at St Lythans around 6,000 BP, about 1,500 years before either Stonehenge
or The Egyptian Great Pyramid of Giza
was completed. There are over 150 other cromlech
s all over Wales, such as Pentre Ifan
in Pembrokeshire
and Bryn Celli Ddu
, on Anglesey
, of the same period.
As well as places to house and to honour their dead, these cromlechs may have been communal and ceremonial sites where, according to Dr Francis Pryor
, people would meet "to socialise, to meet new partners, to acquire fresh livestock and to exchange ceremonial gifts". The corpses of the dead were probably left exposed
, before the bones were moved into the burial chamber.
and Iron Age
Celtic cultures. Together with the approximate areas now known as Brecknockshire
, Monmouthshire
and the rest of Glamorgan
, St Lythans was settled by a Celtic British tribe called the Silures
.
Although the Roman occupation
left no physical impression on St Lythans, its people embraced the Roman religion of Christianity
and dedicated a church to St Bleddian, who had been sent to Britain
to stamp out the Pelagian Heresy
. The current Church of St Bleddian, in St Lythans, a listed grade II* building, known locally as St Lythan's Church, was built about ⅔ mile (about 1 km) to the east of this site and has an ancient yew tree
in the churchyard.
In the 16th century, the manor was acquired by the Button family, who built the first house about 500 yard (0.4572 km) north west of the tumulus
. The Manor's name was changed to Dyffryn St Nicholas
and the house rebuilt in the 18th century, when the estate was purchased by Thomas Pryce.
Commenting on St Lythans in his 'A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales', London, 1811, Nicholas Carlisle, says "The Resident Population of this Parish, in 1801, was 72. It is 6m. W. S.W. from Caerdiff (sic)." and notes that "Here is a Druidical Altar." (Note the spelling of Cardiff, which corresponds closely to the current local Cardiff pronuciation.)
By 1831 the population had grown by over 50 % ("Lythan's, St. (St. Lythian), a parish in the hundred of Dinas-Powis, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Cardiff, containing 103 inhabitants.") and Dyffryn House was being used as "a school for all the poor children of this parish". By now, the dolmen had been correctly identified: "There is a cromlech on St. Lythan's common." (From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' by Samuel Lewis, 1833).
Census records show that St Lythans' population fluctuated between 81 (1881) and 136 (1861) over the rest of the 19th century. In 1939, the Dyffryn Estate was leased to the Glamorgan County Council
for 999 years.
's Eve, the capstone spins around three times and all the stones go to the nearby river to bathe. The cromlech
stands in a field known as the "Accursed Field", so called due to its supposed infertility. However, Julian Cope
(born about 25 miles (40.2 km) to the north, in Deri, Bargoed) has suggested the name may have derived from "Field O'Koeur".
(c 6400 BP–5300 BP). Although, they are comparatively well preserved in the Black Mountains
, Gower
and the Vale of Glamorgan
, where up to 50 individuals, of all ages, have been interred — men, women and children — in each cromlech.
Minor excavation was carried out at St Lythans by William Collings Lukis
in 1875. However his notes are regarded as "poorly-recorded". A report noted in 1976 CE that "Human remains and coarse pottery were found in 1875 in the debris thrown out from the interior, which partly fills the hollow of the original forecourt in the E (sic) end of the mound." Some surface finds from the cromlech are held in the National Museum Wales, Cardiff. They are a fine leaf-shaped flint arrowhead, a fragment of polished stone axe and several flight flakes. Conservation work was carried out on the eroded barrow in 1992–3 CE, when soil and turfs were replaced to cover the exposed areas.
The St Lythans site has not yet been fully excavated. However, results from excavations of other sites are worth noting:
, Gower, has shown significant gender lifestyle variation. Male muscular development is greater — possibly from hunting, or herding. In contrast, no such variation was noticeable in the remains found during the excavation from the nearby Tinkinswood burial chamber
.
, near the cromlech at St Lythans, together with pottery and flint blades dating from between 5,000 to 5,600 BP. Although there is no evidence to show that the bones relate to the site, it is thought that the corpses had been placed there until they had decomposed. The skeletons would then have been removed to sites such as the St Lythans Burial Chamber,
or the Tinkinswood Burial Chamber
. This appears to be the first, and only, site found in Britain
, where corpses have been left to rot, prior to placement in communal tombs. Most of the remains recovered were small pieces of jaw, fingers or toes.
The Tinkinswood site contained human remains and pottery dating to the early Bronze Age
, showing that such sites were used over many generations.
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
ic dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
, built around 6,000 BP
5th millennium BC
The 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe.Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourished, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments became more common, marking the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spread throughout Eurasia,...
(before present
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
) as part of a chambered long barrow
Chambered long barrow
Chambered long barrows are a type of megalithic burial monument found in the British Isles in the Neolithic.Long barrows either contained wooden or stone burial structures beneath the barrow and the surviving megalithic stone in the latter means that they are the ones referred to by archaeologists...
, during the mid Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period, in what is now known as the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
It lies about 1km to the west of the hamlet of St Lythans
St Lythans
St Lythans is an affluent hamlet and former parish in the Vale of Glamorgan, southeast Wales, just outside of 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...
, near Dyffryn Gardens
Dyffryn Gardens
Dyffryn Gardens is a collection of botanical gardens located near the village of St. Nicholas in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The gardens were selected by the British Tourist Authority as one of the Top 100 gardens in the UK.-History of The Dyffryn Estate:...
. It also lies around one mile (1.6 km) south of Tinkinswood burial chamber
Tinkinswood
Tinkinswood or its full name Tinkinswood Burial Chamber , also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-y-Filiast and Maes-y-Filiast, is a megalithic burial chamber, built around 6,000 BP , during the Neolithic period, in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Cardiff, Wales.The structure is called a dolmen, which was...
, a more extensive cromlech
Cromlech
Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...
that it may once have resembled, constructed during the same period.
The site is on pasture land, but pedestrian access is allowed and is free, with roadside parking available for 2–3 cars about 50 yards (45.7 m) from the site.
The dolmen, which has never been fully excavated, is maintained by Cadw
Cadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
(to keep), the Welsh Historic Environment Agency.
Location
The burial chamber stands in a field, Maesyfelin , often shared by a herd of cows, to the south of St Lythans Road, roughly 1km west of the hamlet of St LythansSt Lythans
St Lythans is an affluent hamlet and former parish in the Vale of Glamorgan, southeast Wales, just outside of 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...
. Roadside parking is available, for 2—3 cars, about 50 yards (45.7 m) from the site, which is maintained by Cadw
Cadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
, the Welsh Historic Environment Agency. Access to the field, which slopes gently downwards towards the north west, is permitted, and is free, via a kissing gate
Kissing gate
A kissing gate is a type of gate which allows people to pass through, but not livestock.The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezial or V-shaped enclosure with a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When the gate is parked at either side of the enclosure, there is no gap to pass...
. There is no wheelchair access, although there is an uninterrupted view of the site from the gate, about 50 yards (45.7 m) away.
Features
This chamber tombChamber tomb
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one...
is a dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
, the most common form of megalithic structure in Europe. It stands at the eastern end of a flat topped, 27 metres (88.6 ft) long, 11 metres (36.1 ft) wide earthen mound, forming part of a chambered long barrow
Chambered long barrow
Chambered long barrows are a type of megalithic burial monument found in the British Isles in the Neolithic.Long barrows either contained wooden or stone burial structures beneath the barrow and the surviving megalithic stone in the latter means that they are the ones referred to by archaeologists...
. It is one of the Severn-Cotswold
Severn-Cotswold tomb
Severn-Cotswold is a name given to a type of Megalithic chamber tomb built by Neolithic peoples in Wales and South West England around 3500 BC.-Description:...
type, and consists of a cove
Cove (standing stones)
Cove is a term used to describe a tightly concentrated group of large standing stones found in Neolithic and Bronze Age England. Coves are square or rectangular in plan and seem to have served as small enclosures within other henge, stone circle or avenue features. They consist of three or four...
of three upright stones (orthostats), supporting a large, flat, capstone. All the stones are mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
, which, as with those used at Tinkinswood, were probably available locally. The capstone, which slopes downwards from south east to north west (the left side of the entrance towards the back, right), measures four metres (13 ft) long, three metres (10 ft) wide, and 0.7 metres (2.3 ft) thick. The insides of the two facing, rectangular, uprights have been smoothed off and there is a port-hole at the top of the triangular, rear stone, similar to some other dolmens, such as at Trethevy Quoit
Trethevy Quoit
Trethevy Quoit is a well-preserved megalithic tomb located near St Cleer, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is known locally as "the giant's house". Standing high, it consists of five standing stones capped by a large slab.-Location:...
, in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. The burial chamber
Chamber tomb
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one...
has a minimum internal height of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) and is in an east/west alignment, with the entrance facing east.
As with most cromlech
Cromlech
Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...
s, it is likely that originally, the burial chamber would have had a forecourt immediately outside the entrance to the chamber and the chamber would have been covered by a mound of earth and smaller stones. This has either been eroded, or removed, over time, leaving only a much lower barrow behind the current structure. However, as the chamber is unusually tall, it is possible that the capstone was never fully covered.
Prehistoric origins
From the end of the last ice ageIce age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
(between 10,000 and 12,000 BP
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
), mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
hunter-gatherers from Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
began to migrate
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. They would have been able to walk between Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
and Great Britain on dry land
Land bridge
A land bridge, in biogeography, is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonise new lands...
, prior to the post glacial rise in sea level, up until between 6,000 and 7,000 BP. As the area was heavily wooded and movement would have been restricted, it is likely that people also came to what was to become known as Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
by boat from the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. These neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
colonists
Colonisation
Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...
integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
, to become settled farmers. They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land. They built the long barrow
Long barrow
A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal tumuli or earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs...
at St Lythans around 6,000 BP, about 1,500 years before either Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
or The Egyptian Great Pyramid of Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact...
was completed. There are over 150 other cromlech
Cromlech
Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...
s all over Wales, such as Pentre Ifan
Pentre Ifan
Pentre Ifan is the name of an ancient manor in the civil parish of Nevern, in North Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It contains the largest and best preserved neolithic dolmen in Wales.-History:...
in Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
and Bryn Celli Ddu
Bryn Celli Ddu
Bryn Celli Ddu 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 plundered in 1699 and archaeologically excavated between 1928 and 1929....
, on Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
, of the same period.
Purpose
Francis Pryor
thumb|180px|Francis Pryor discusses the excavation during the filming of a 2007 dig for [[Time Team]] with series editor Michael Douglas ....
, people would meet "to socialise, to meet new partners, to acquire fresh livestock and to exchange ceremonial gifts". The corpses of the dead were probably left exposed
Excarnation
In archaeology and anthropology, the term, excarnation , refers to the burial practice of removing the flesh and organs of the dead, leaving only the bones....
, before the bones were moved into the burial chamber.
New cultures
In common with the people living all over Great Britain, over the following centuries the people living around what is now known as St Lythans assimilated new immigrants and exchanged ideas of the Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
Celtic cultures. Together with the approximate areas now known as Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...
, Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire (historic)
Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
and the rest of Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
, St Lythans was settled by a Celtic British tribe called the Silures
Silures
The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorganshire of present day South Wales; and possibly Gloucestershire and Herefordshire of present day England...
.
Although the Roman occupation
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
left no physical impression on St Lythans, its people embraced the Roman religion of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and dedicated a church to St Bleddian, who had been sent to Britain
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
to stamp out the Pelagian Heresy
Pelagianism
Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius , although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without...
. The current Church of St Bleddian, in St Lythans, a listed grade II* building, known locally as St Lythan's Church, was built about ⅔ mile (about 1 km) to the east of this site and has an ancient yew tree
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
in the churchyard.
Recent local history
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
. The Manor's name was changed to Dyffryn St Nicholas
Dyffryn Gardens
Dyffryn Gardens is a collection of botanical gardens located near the village of St. Nicholas in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The gardens were selected by the British Tourist Authority as one of the Top 100 gardens in the UK.-History of The Dyffryn Estate:...
and the house rebuilt in the 18th century, when the estate was purchased by Thomas Pryce.
Commenting on St Lythans in his 'A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales', London, 1811, Nicholas Carlisle, says "The Resident Population of this Parish, in 1801, was 72. It is 6m. W. S.W. from Caerdiff (sic)." and notes that "Here is a Druidical Altar." (Note the spelling of Cardiff, which corresponds closely to the current local Cardiff pronuciation.)
By 1831 the population had grown by over 50 % ("Lythan's, St. (St. Lythian), a parish in the hundred of Dinas-Powis, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Cardiff, containing 103 inhabitants.") and Dyffryn House was being used as "a school for all the poor children of this parish". By now, the dolmen had been correctly identified: "There is a cromlech on St. Lythan's common." (From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' by Samuel Lewis, 1833).
Census records show that St Lythans' population fluctuated between 81 (1881) and 136 (1861) over the rest of the 19th century. In 1939, the Dyffryn Estate was leased to the Glamorgan County Council
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
for 999 years.
Local folklore
St Lythans Burial Chamber is also known as Gwâl y Filiast (The Greyhound Bitch's Kennel) — the site had been used as an animal shelter in the early 19th century — and Maes y Felin , apparently from the legend that, each MidsummerMidsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
's Eve, the capstone spins around three times and all the stones go to the nearby river to bathe. The cromlech
Cromlech
Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...
stands in a field known as the "Accursed Field", so called due to its supposed infertility. However, Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
(born about 25 miles (40.2 km) to the north, in Deri, Bargoed) has suggested the name may have derived from "Field O'Koeur".
Analysis of contemporary local sites
Few human remains survive from this period, the early NeolithicPrehistoric Britain
For the purposes of this article, Prehistoric Britain is that period of time between the first arrival of humans on the land mass now known as Great Britain and the start of recorded British history...
(c 6400 BP–5300 BP). Although, they are comparatively well preserved in the Black Mountains
Black Mountains, Wales
The Black Mountains are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales, and extending across the national border into Herefordshire, England. They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are frequently...
, Gower
Gower Peninsula
Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...
and the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
, where up to 50 individuals, of all ages, have been interred — men, women and children — in each cromlech.
Minor excavation was carried out at St Lythans by William Collings Lukis
William Collings Lukis
Rev. William Collings Lukis MA. FSA was a British antiquarian, archeologist and polymath....
in 1875. However his notes are regarded as "poorly-recorded". A report noted in 1976 CE that "Human remains and coarse pottery were found in 1875 in the debris thrown out from the interior, which partly fills the hollow of the original forecourt in the E (sic) end of the mound." Some surface finds from the cromlech are held in the National Museum Wales, Cardiff. They are a fine leaf-shaped flint arrowhead, a fragment of polished stone axe and several flight flakes. Conservation work was carried out on the eroded barrow in 1992–3 CE, when soil and turfs were replaced to cover the exposed areas.
The St Lythans site has not yet been fully excavated. However, results from excavations of other sites are worth noting:
Parc Cwm long cairn
Musculoskelatal analysis of the human remains found at Parc Cwm long cairnParc Cwm long cairn
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 , during the early...
, Gower, has shown significant gender lifestyle variation. Male muscular development is greater — possibly from hunting, or herding. In contrast, no such variation was noticeable in the remains found during the excavation from the nearby Tinkinswood burial chamber
Tinkinswood
Tinkinswood or its full name Tinkinswood Burial Chamber , also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-y-Filiast and Maes-y-Filiast, is a megalithic burial chamber, built around 6,000 BP , during the Neolithic period, in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Cardiff, Wales.The structure is called a dolmen, which was...
.
Goldsland Wood
Remains from seven neolithic humans have been excavated from a cave at Goldsland Wood, WenvoeWenvoe
Wenvoe is a Welsh village between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby is the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse Cross in the suburbs of Cardiff.-History:...
, near the cromlech at St Lythans, together with pottery and flint blades dating from between 5,000 to 5,600 BP. Although there is no evidence to show that the bones relate to the site, it is thought that the corpses had been placed there until they had decomposed. The skeletons would then have been removed to sites such as the St Lythans Burial Chamber,
or the Tinkinswood Burial Chamber
Tinkinswood
Tinkinswood or its full name Tinkinswood Burial Chamber , also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-y-Filiast and Maes-y-Filiast, is a megalithic burial chamber, built around 6,000 BP , during the Neolithic period, in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Cardiff, Wales.The structure is called a dolmen, which was...
. This appears to be the first, and only, site found in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, where corpses have been left to rot, prior to placement in communal tombs. Most of the remains recovered were small pieces of jaw, fingers or toes.
The Tinkinswood site contained human remains and pottery dating to the early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, showing that such sites were used over many generations.
See also
- Prehistoric BritainPrehistoric BritainFor the purposes of this article, Prehistoric Britain is that period of time between the first arrival of humans on the land mass now known as Great Britain and the start of recorded British history...
- Standing stoneStanding stoneStanding stones, orthostats, liths, or more commonly megaliths are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties....
- Hunter-gatherers
- Neolithic EuropeNeolithic EuropeNeolithic Europe refers to a prehistoric period in which Neolithic technology was present in Europe. This corresponds roughly to a time between 7000 BC and c. 1700 BC...
- Long barrowLong barrowA long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal tumuli or earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs...
- Cove (standing stones)Cove (standing stones)Cove is a term used to describe a tightly concentrated group of large standing stones found in Neolithic and Bronze Age England. Coves are square or rectangular in plan and seem to have served as small enclosures within other henge, stone circle or avenue features. They consist of three or four...
- CairnCairnCairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
- TumulusTumulusA tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
- Britons (historic)
- List of Cadw properties
- Welsh placenamesWelsh placenamesThe placenames of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English...
External links
- Cadw Page
- ST LYTHANS CHAMBERED LONG CAIRN, RCAHMW
- St Lythans - Chambered Tomb at www.megalithic.co.uk
- St. Lythans Neolithic Chambered Long Barrow at www.stone-circles.org.uk
- Photos of St Lythans and surrouding area on geograph