Din Lligwy
Din Lligwy is located near the town of Moelfre in the northeast of the island of Anglesey in Wales and has two prehistoric, but temporally and spatially completely separate monuments.
The "Siambr Gladdu Lligwy" chamber
The Lligwy Tomb ( location ) does not belong to any of the common types in the British Isles . The low, only 1.1 m high chamber was found in a field. It comes from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Chr. Lligwy tomb is characterized by its massive capstone five meters long, one meter thick and weighing 25 tons. The special thing is that the system was built over a pit. The bearing stones either stand on the rocky edge of the pit or on dry stone masonry . The floor of the pit carved out of the rock was more than two meters from the ceiling. The use of a pit has been interpreted with the minimum of labor, but the lack of suitably sized bearing stones has been more likely. Like other chambers in the region, it was originally covered with a mound of earth or stone. The chamber is accessed through a small passage.
In 1909 excavated chamber the remains were found from 15 to 30 people (men, women and children) in two separate layers of stone slabs, suggesting Secondary burial may indicate. The top layer, which contained human and animal bones, worked flint and broken glass, was covered with shells. The lower layer rested on a bed of clam shells. The bones were all unburned. Three fragments of unusually wide jawbones suggest a familial feature. With them shattered cups and grooved ware (grooved ceramics) were found, which prove the age of the Neolithic megalithic complex.
The settlement
The "Din Lligwy Hut Group" is a walled group of huts from the last days of the Roman occupation ( location ). In any case, coins and pottery date from the 4th century AD, although excavations and finds show that it was made long before that. It is believed that the wall around the village was only built after the Romans left.
The site covers half a hectare and consists of the marginal foundations of two round and several angular buildings. The size and shape of the buildings vary, suggesting different purposes. The round buildings are typical of the Welsh Iron Age, especially on Anglesey. Coins, ceramics and a glass jug as well as a silver bar were found in the large round hut.
The rectangular building in the opposite corner turned out to be a workshop, in which large amounts of metallic slag as well as the remains of several hearths were found. Access was secured by a rectangular building.
The ruins of Capel Lligwy are nearby .
literature
- Neil McDonald: Anglesey. A Megalithic Journey. Mutus Liber, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-9555230-6-9 .
- Stuart Pigott: The Pottery from the Lligwy Burial Chamber, Anglesey. In: Archaeologia Cambrensis. Vol. 88, 1933, ISSN 0306-6924 , pp. 68-72.
Map with all coordinates: