Tinkinswood or its full name Tinkinswood Burial Chamber ( cy, Siambr Gladdu Tinkinswood), also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-y-Filiast and Maes-y-Filiast, is a

megalith 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. The ...

burial chamber 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 interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could a ...

, built around 6,000 years ago, during the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

period, in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

, near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. The structure is called a

dolmen 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 (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

, which was the most common megalithic structure in Europe. The dolmen is of the

Severn-Cotswold tomb The Cotswold-Severn Group are a series of long barrows erected in an area of western Britain during the Early Neolithic. Around 200 known examples of long barrows are known from the Cotswold-Severn region, although an unknown number of others wer ...

type, and consists of a large capstone on top, with smaller upright stones supporting it. The

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

capstone at Tinkinswood weighs approximately 40 long tons and measures x ; it is thought to be the largest in Britain, and also in Europe. It would have taken some 200 people to lift the stone into the correct position. It was originally all covered by a mound of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

, which has been removed over time. The remaining mound behind the structure measures approximately x in size.

History

Tinkinswood was once a village but now all that remains is the burial chamber, which was built about 6000 BP, about 1,000 years or so before

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

was constructed. The site was excavated in 1914, 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. 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 The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

period. Restoration work was carried out at the same time, with a brick pillar built to support the capstone. 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. The site is managed by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

, a

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

body responsible for the protection, conservation and promotion of the built heritage of Wales. In October 2011, new excavations began at the site.Tinkinswood Community Archaeology
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Myths and legends

Many of the myths and legends of Tinkinswood are also associated with the nearby burial site of

St Lythans St Lythans ( cy, Llwyneliddon) 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 conne ...

, a short distance away. 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 Midwinter Day, or Midwinter, is an annual celebration held across Antarctica on the day of the southern winter solstice (June 20 or 21). It is the continent's primary cultural holiday and, along with Antarctica Day, is one of two principal Anta ...

would either die, go mad, or become a poet. 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 In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

day, another legend which is associated with dolmens.

Notes

External links

Tinkinswood on the Cadw website

Photos of Tinkinswood and surrounding area on geograph

Tinkinswood and St Lythan’s Community Archaeology Project
{{Vale of Glamorgan Archaeological sites in the Vale of Glamorgan Buildings and structures in the Vale of Glamorgan Cadw 4th-millennium BC architecture Dolmens in Wales Monuments and memorials in the Vale of Glamorgan

History

Myths and legends

See also

Notes

External links