THE SILENT WITNESSES TO WALES’ PAST
Long before the history we are taught in schools began, there was a thriving society in Wales. Thomas Deacon digs deep into prehistory to tell the fascinating stories of our standing stones...
ACROSS Wales you’ll find huge stones arranged and stacked in remote and often beautiful locations.
While everybody knows about Stonehenge, these equally fascinating standing stones across the country reveal the history of Wales before history was even written down.
And ever since history was recorded, these stones have provoked intrigue, mystery and speculation.
Some mark vicious battles between ancient kings. Others were used as burial sites for dozens of people, and some are shrouded in folklore, curses and superstition.
Dozens of the prehistoric standing stones have been documented in a new book, which covers Wales’ Neolithic and Bronze Age sites, and the stories behind them.
The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland explores these megaliths – large stones that form prehistoric monuments – and what they reveal about the lives of those who built them.
Near Brynberian, in north Pembrokeshire, the huge Trefael Stone is believed to have been a place of significance for at least 5,500 years.
Beads have been found there, as well as cremated bones, the remains of an ancient coffin or burial chamber and pottery.
Some of the myths and legends surrounding the standing stones reveal the link between Welsh folklore and nature.
The Maen Llia stone stands more than 12ft tall in a remote and desolate position on moorland in Fforest Fawr in the Brecon Beacons.
A common legend attached to the site says that at some point during the year, the stone “goes to drink at a nearby stream or lake”.
At midsummer sunset the shadow of the stone stretches down the hill and through a nearby stream.
The book says: “Considering the alternative translation for Llia, which is ‘to lick or lap’, then Maen Llia is literally ‘the stone that licks’. A deliberate part of the design, or was it noticed after the stone was raised, and the name came from that?”
One site was only discovered in the 1970s, and revealed how vast and complicated some of the structures can be.
Penywyrlod, near Talgarth, was found in 1972 when a farmer began to quarry stone from the mound and found a chamber containing piles of human bones.
The huge site extends 170ft long and 74ft wide. Further quarrying has revealed some large stones, and the book states there are “probably” several more chambers to be found.
Excavation work at the site found flints, stones and the remains of 11 people.
A sheep bone with three holes was also found, which could have been used as a flute or whistle, which would make it the oldest known musical instrument in Wales.
Wales is well-known for its rich history of immigration in the last century – but analysis of the bones suggest it could have began thousands of years earlier.
In 2005, samples showed that most of those buried at Penywyrlod did not source their childhood diet locally and must have grown up as far away as the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire and maybe even further away.
The book states it has even been suggested that the data found is similar to that recorded in north-western France.
The group lived in the first few centuries of the fourth millennium BC, the time of the very first agriculture in Wales.
Many of the standing stones reveal how people in Wales treated death and burials, including the huge Bryn Celli Ddu (mound in the dark grove) on Anglesey.
Built thousands of years ago, the grave includes an engraved 5ft-high stone buried face-down in the pit.
The passage, which is aligned to the midsummer sunrise, leads to a chamber that is home to another large standing stone.
Ongoing excavation work nearby has already revealed interesting finds, including several examples of rock art, all within sight of the grave, as well as pits containing pottery.
The book includes one location that doesn’t feature any standing stones – but the ancient footprints of small children.
Most of the Goldcliff East site, near Newport, is only accessible at low tide, and the footprints are exposed and then hidden depending on the sea level.
The book states they are “impossible to predict” and some are periodically exposed as the coast erodes.
Prints of animals, birds and adults have also been found at the site – alongside the remains of an oak forest, and wood and bone tools.
Near Reynoldston, on Gower, lies one of the more well-known sites, Arthur’s Stone.
Also known as Maen Ceti, the site gets its name from the legend that King Arthur stood on the opposite shore, found a pebble in his shoe and irritably flung it to Cefn Bryn.
One of the stones weighs around 23 tonnes and the vast burial chamber includes nine upright stones.
It is also said that after Henry Tudor’s troops landed at Milford Haven, they made a detour to visit the site before going on to defeat Richard III at Bosworth Field.
Another story says that St David split the capstone with his sword “in proof that it was not sacred; and he commanded a well to spring from under it”.
In the book’s foreword, Mike Parker Pearson, professor of British later prehistory at University College London, writes: “Megaliths are among the most enduring remains from our prehistoric past.
“Whether as single standing stones or impressive stone circles and tombs, they provide a glimpse into a vanished way of life that may seem beyond our comprehension.” ■ The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland by Andy Burnham was created with the help of megalith enthusiasts through their most popular website, Megalithic Portal. Published by Watkins Publishing, the book is available for £29.99 from September 20.