Gwynedd Archaeological
Trust Regional Historic Environment Record
Pant y Saer Burial Chamber, Tynygongl
Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 3601 Trust : Gwynedd Community : Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf Unitary authority : Ynys Mon NGR : SH5097182401 Site Type (preferred type first) : NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMB Status : Scheduled Monument
Description : 1 cromlech at Marvan Pant y Saer. <1>
A rectangular chamber which presents its sides to the cardinal points, 8ft long by 6ft wide, its length being in direction E to W. Capstone 9ft by 9ft by 2 1/2ft thick and partly dismounted, its S corner resting on the ground. Within was a flat stone 6ft long by 2ft 3in wide narrowing to 1ft 9in wide and 7in thick, covering a cist grave which lay NW by SE, diagonal to the cromlech. Many fragments of human and animal bones were found and seashells. <2>
Pany y Saer burial chamber: a rectangular chamber in a kidney shaped cairn, about 60ft by 50ft and 2 1/2ft high. Fully excavated by Lindsay Scott in 1933. Scott found a complete beaker in the chamber and also a great quantity of fragmented human bones, chert, and flint arrowheads. <3>
On a limestone plateau, sloping to the S and E it consists of a burial chamber constructed over a pit and with an attached forecourt, covered by a cairn. It seems certain that the structure was built towards the close of the Neolithic period, and that interments continued to be made into the beaker period of the early Bronze Age. Condition - fair. (RCAHMW, 1937)
SH 50978239 burial chamber LB. <6>
Mound 0.4m high, otherwise as described. Published survey 25" revised. <8>
Limestone burial chamber - massive capstone fallen to E. Edges of mound 0.4 high and clearly defined. Site partially dismantled and excavated revealing cist etc in 1933 (Scott). Now consists of two 1.3m high orthostatic slabs and a capstone leaning on these at close to 45 degrees angle. Setting: Natural terrace on hillslope no obvious reverse prospect. (Smith, 2003)
Explored by the ltev. W. Wynn Williams in 1875, which yielded bones of men and animals and shells (Unnamed reviewer, 1902).
Pantysaer. — This is at Pantysaer, in the parish of Llanfair Mathafarneithaf, about 6 miles east of Llangefni. This cromlech was described by Mr. W Wynn Williams in the Arch. Camb. for 1875. He found within the chamber a number of human bones, along with bones of animals and shells. It is not improbable that this cromlech is a transitional form between the cromlech proper and the simple barrow of the Bronze Age (Anwyl, 1908)
Explored by the ltev. W. Wynn Williams in 1875, which yielded bones of men and animals and shells (Griffith, 1900).
Perhaps this burial chamber gave Benllech its name. “We must now ask what was this notable slab or stone which was called y Benllech (pen top head + llech slab '). The clue is to be found, I think, in the discovery of a cromlech which has been described by Miss Frances Lynch in The excavation of Benllech Burial Chamber, Anglesey', Arch. Camb., CXV (1966), 11-26. The cap- stone measures 9 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. 6 in., and is about 1 ft. thick.” (Richards, 1967).
A brief, illustrated description of this Cromlech. (Pritchard 1868).
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