Barclodiad y Gawres
Coordinates: 53 ° 12 ′ 24.3 " N , 4 ° 30 ′ 17.1" W.
Barclodiad y Gawres ( German "apron full of the giantess" ) is an important megalithic barrow on the island of Môn Mam Cymru ( Anglesey ) off the northwestern Welsh coast. The megalithic complex is located on the southwest coast of the island between the villages of Rhosneigr and Aberffraw. It is one of the rare passage tombs of the Newgrange or Maeshowe type , the design including the design is reminiscent of Fourknocks .
Inside the Barclodiad y Gawres burial mound there is a main and two secondary chambers. Megalithic sculptures (spiral shapes and wavy lines) on five stones had been known for a long time; On a sixth, sculptures of the same type were only discovered in 2007.
The megalithic complex of Barclodiad y Gawres was used sacred in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages . In Celtic times it could have been associated with one of the "druid groves" of Môn Mam Cymru mentioned by Tacitus . This cannot be ruled out because megalithic sanctuaries often also had significance in the pagan island-Celtic religion. For example, Newgrange plays an important role in Ireland's Celtic mythology.
literature
- Vicki Cummings, Alasdair Whittle: Places of special virtue. Megaliths in the Neolithic landscapes of Wales (= Cardiff studies in archeology. ). Oxbow Books, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-84217-108-9 , p. 106.
- Thomas GE Powell, Glyn E. Daniel : Barclodiad y Gawres. The excavation of a megalith chamber tomb in Anglesey, 1952–1953 (= Liverpool monographs in archeology and oriental studies. ). Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 1956.
- Frances Lynch: Gwynedd. A guide to ancient and historic Wales. HMSO, London 1995, ISBN 0-11-701574-1 .
