Tinkinswood or its full name
Tinkinswood Burial Chamber , also known as
Castell Carreg,
Llech-y-Filiast and
Maes-y-Filiast, is a
megalithA megalith is a large stone which 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...
ic
burial chamberA 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...
, built around
6,000 BPThe 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe.Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourish, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments become more common, marking the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spreads throughout Eurasia,...
(
before presentBefore 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 1 January 1950 as the arbitrary origin of the age scale...
), during the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
period, in the
Vale of GlamorganThe Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in in the southern part of Glamorgan, south Wales...
, near
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
,
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
.
The structure is called a
dolmenA dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone . Most date from the early Neolithic period...
, which was the most common megalithic structure in Europe. The dolmen is of the
Severn-Cotswold tombSevern-Cotswold is a name given to a type of Megalithic chamber tomb built by Neolithic peoples in Wales and South West England around 3,500 BC.-Description:...
type, and consists of a large capstone on top, with smaller upright stones supporting it.
Tinkinswood or its full name
Tinkinswood Burial Chamber , also known as
Castell Carreg,
Llech-y-Filiast and
Maes-y-Filiast, is a
megalithA megalith is a large stone which 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...
ic
burial chamberA 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...
, built around
6,000 BPThe 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe.Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourish, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments become more common, marking the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spreads throughout Eurasia,...
(
before presentBefore 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 1 January 1950 as the arbitrary origin of the age scale...
), during the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
period, in the
Vale of GlamorganThe Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in in the southern part of Glamorgan, south Wales...
, near
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
,
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
.
The structure is called a
dolmenA dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone . Most date from the early Neolithic period...
, which was the most common megalithic structure in Europe. The dolmen is of the
Severn-Cotswold tombSevern-Cotswold is a name given to a type of Megalithic chamber tomb built by Neolithic peoples in Wales and South West England around 3,500 BC.-Description:...
type, and consists of a large capstone on top, with smaller upright stones supporting it. The
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
capstone at Tinkinswood weighs approximately 36 metric
tonneA tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to , or approximately the mass of one cubic metre of water. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI...
s (40
long tonLong ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the USA by the short ton. It is equal to or of salt water with a...
s) 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
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
, which has been removed over time, now the remaining mound behind the structure measures approximately x in size.
History
Tinkinswood was a once a village but now all that remains is the burial chamber, which was built about 6000
BPBefore 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 1 January 1950 as the arbitrary origin of the age scale...
, about 1,000 years or so before
StonehengeStonehenge 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 earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones and sits at the centre of the...
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 potteryThe Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...
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 AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
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
CadwCadw is a Welsh-government body with the mission to protect, conserve, and to promote the built heritage of Wales. It is the Welsh equivalent of English Heritage and Historic Scotland and is now part of the Welsh Assembly Government....
, which is a
Welsh Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
body responsible for the
protection, conservation and promotion of the built heritage of Wales.
Myths and legends
Many of the myths and legends of Tinkinswood are also associated with the nearby burial site of St Lythans, a short distance away. Legend has it that anyone who spends a night at Tinkinswood on the evenings before
May DayMay Day occurs on May 1 and refers to several public holidays. In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations organised by the unions and socialist groups....
, St John's Day (23 June), or
Midwinter DayWinter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
would either die, go mad, or become a poet. This legend is a 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.
External links