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6,000 years ago, hundreds of people gathered in Tinkinswood to place a gargantuan 40-tonne stone slab atop a stone chamber.
1,000 years before Stonehenge was built, it remains one of the most spectacular feats of prehistoric engineering ever accomplished by humanity.
THREAD
1,000 years before Stonehenge was built, it remains one of the most spectacular feats of prehistoric engineering ever accomplished by humanity.
THREAD
Tinkinswood, or to give it its full name, Tinkinswood Burial Chamber, is a Cotswold-Severn chambered tomb in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Its Welsh name is Siambr Gladdu Tinkinswood, but it is also known as:
⢠Castell Carreg
⢠Llech-y-Filiast
⢠Maes-y-Filiast
⢠Gwal-y-Filiast
Its Welsh name is Siambr Gladdu Tinkinswood, but it is also known as:⢠Castell Carreg
⢠Llech-y-Filiast
⢠Maes-y-Filiast
⢠Gwal-y-Filiast
A quick "Cotswold-Severn" explainer! ⢠Tombs made to a common design throughout the Cotswolds and around the Severn Estuary
⢠Often taking the form of mounds
⢠Wider end points eastwards and opens to a forecourt
⢠Internal chambers are accessed by short passages
Tinkinswood is dominated by an entrance chamber topped by an enormous mudstone capstone, the largest ever found in Britain.
Measuring a staggering 7.4m x 4.5m (24ft x 15ft), it weighs as much as an articulated lorry.
How Stone Age builders achieved this mindboggling feat is
Measuring a staggering 7.4m x 4.5m (24ft x 15ft), it weighs as much as an articulated lorry.
How Stone Age builders achieved this mindboggling feat is
Archeologists excavated the site in 1914, finding human skeletons and teeth, flints and pottery.
It's believed that 50 men, women and children had been interred there.
It's likely the corpses of the dead were left exposed before being moved into the chamber.
It's believed that 50 men, women and children had been interred there.
It's likely the corpses of the dead were left exposed before being moved into the chamber.
Neolithic and "Bell Beaker" pottery was found, suggesting Tinkinswood was in use for a 1,500 year period.
Bell Beaker culture
A complex cultural phenomenon involving:
⢠Copper/Gold metalwork
⢠Archery
⢠Specific ornaments
sharing ideological, cultural & religious ideas
Bell Beaker culture A complex cultural phenomenon involving:
⢠Copper/Gold metalwork
⢠Archery
⢠Specific ornaments
sharing ideological, cultural & religious ideas
It's an immensely impressive site, rich in spiritual meaning and pagan tradition. 
Tinkinswood is managed by @cadwwales.
More
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/tinkinswood-burial-chamber
https://www.visitthevale.com/en/Be-Inspired/History-and-Mystery/Tinkinswood-Burial-Chamber.aspx
https://museum.wales/articles/2007-05-14/The-Stone-Age-tombs-of-south-east-Wales/
https://thejournalofantiquities.com/2018/10/06/tinkinswood-burial-chamber-st-nicholas-south-glamorgan-wales/
Diolch @caws_llyffant for the help!
Tinkinswood is managed by @cadwwales.
More
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/tinkinswood-burial-chamber https://www.visitthevale.com/en/Be-Inspired/History-and-Mystery/Tinkinswood-Burial-Chamber.aspx https://museum.wales/articles/2007-05-14/The-Stone-Age-tombs-of-south-east-Wales/ https://thejournalofantiquities.com/2018/10/06/tinkinswood-burial-chamber-st-nicholas-south-glamorgan-wales/Diolch @caws_llyffant for the help!
And if you liked that, Iâve got a LOT more tales of Walesâ surprising history and geography to share http://bit.ly/SecretsOfWales
http://bit.ly/SecretsOfWales
I decided to bring my three-year-old to feel the weight of history!
Tinkinswood is a quiet, eerie place.
And that capstone is gobsmackingly massive...
Tinkinswood is a quiet, eerie place.
And that capstone is gobsmackingly massive...
