This blog is going to be the biggest online source of photographs and information on the megalithic masterpieces, the Neolithic dolmens and burial mounds that can be found all over the island. Human life was not possible during the Palaeolithic period as Anglesey was covered by ice, but as this retreated people came here from about 7,000 BC. What do these carefully prepared and sealed cairns tell us about neolithic man?
Plas Newydd Burial Chamber (3000-2000 BC)
This monument has not been classified by the experts and has never been excavated. It is situated in the grounds of a large country house, the grounds of which are currently owned by Cheshire County Council and rented by the National Trust. Entrance to the site requires paying a fee, but I asked in the shop for permission to view and photograph the monument for this blog.
After several pone calls by a very helpful young lady I was allowed access to the chambers, provided I stuck to a specific route to them (apparently for insurance purposes). Fortunately I timed this very well as a coach load of school children arrived whilst I was taking these photographs and made their way over to the megaliths.
The capstone of the larger chamber slopes upwards towards the north east where it is supported by three orthostats. Articles (Frances Lynch Megalithic Enquiries in the West of Britain 1969, pp122) suggest that the entrance could have been at this end and was closed when no longer in use. The lower end rests on two stones which rules out any form of connection to the smaller chamber which has been interpreted as a passage or a side-chamber.
I think the entrances to both chambers where at the south east side from the direction of this photograph where the smaller chamber has a sill stone half the height of the capstone and a larger stone, now on the ground, was at the entrance to the larger dolmen. This site would need to be excavated to discover it's true history.
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