|
|
Bryn Celli Ddu
Location
Ynys Mon (Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd), Wales.
|
|
|
View Photo Gallery |
Index of Ancient Sites |
Bryn Celli Ddu - (‘The mound in a dark grove’ - passage mound, Henge)
.Description - Passage mound with structural similarities to contemporary Irish and French monuments.
The use of the site appears to have changed over time. It started as a stone circle surrounded by a bank and internal ditch. In the centre was a standing stone covered in carvings, including spirals and zigzag patterns. A Passage grave was built inside the ditch, with a North-east entrance. Finally, the whole passage was covered with a cairn. Some time before the pillar and its surrounding megaliths were erected, the stone was taken down and buried in the middle of the original ring, outside the chamber. This stone has been taken from its ancient setting to be stored in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, and a replica casting has been erected in the socket of the original stone. (16).
A pit was excavated in the centre of the henge, Charcoal and a human ear bone were found.
On the ridge to the north of the site is another tall standing stone.
Outside the entrance and the ditch a small ox burial was found.
Alignments -
The shadow gauge on the pillar indicates where in the solar year you are (from September to April). (16).The alignment of the passage and its ‘cup mark’ sequences highlight the equinoxes and the summer solstice.
At the winter solstice, the dagger of sunlight would have reached the top of the pillar but for a concrete lintel recently placed to secure the roof.(16).
The pillar and stone edge are positioned to accurately measure the Venus cycle and the winter solstice. (16).
The spring and autumn equinoxes are marked by the sunlight moving onto the carved rock behind the pillar and splitting to light up the sides of the chamber with its patterns and cup markings. (16).
On the summer solstice the runs rays illuminate the chamber through the reflectivity of the quartz. For a few minutes only it is directed to illuminate a small carved double spiral on stone slab left of the entrance. It has been shown that this shape is achieved by focusing and plotting the suns path over 366 days. (16).