Thursday 27 March 2008

Dyffryn Ardudwy burial chamber

Dyffryn Ardudwy is a small town on the north west coast of Wales between Barmouth and Harlech. It has a picturesque old church and graveyard on the on the shore, and hidden away behind the victorian primary school buildings, it has an ancient burial chamber. Thus chamber was built somewhere around 3,500 BC, and the upright stones acted as portal (doorway) stones with the cap stone acting as a roof. All the stones were put in place by sheer effort and human strength.


The smaller stones lying all around them would once have covered the large stones, and earth would have been piled over the whole thing. This 'building' served the same purpose as churches have done for the last 2000 years or so. The cremated remains of people from pre-history were kept safely inside, along with ceremonial offerings of broken pottery.


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