The island of Anglesey (Ynys Mon) on the North Wales coast is home to almost twenty neolithic burial chambers. Not to mention its many standing stones, inscribed stones, stone circles, cairns, cave art and hillforts. It really is an treasure trove of Celtic origins.
Occasionally, when in the area i'll try and tick a few of these off my list. A lot are merely grassy mounds or a few rocks where something once stood but there are many that have remained in the condition in which they were erected way back nearly 5000 years ago.
On today's list was Presaddfed burial chamber which sits in the middle of a farmers field not too far from where I just happened to be visiting.
The chamber remains can be seen in the field in the distance
Burial chambers like these would be a communal place to bury the dead. They would be erected using huge stones stood vertically in the ground and capped with an equally large slab before being covered with earth. Quite impressive for people who'd only just figured out the benefits of agriculture.
I'd arrived a little bit early and the sun hadn't quite come up. It was too dark to get any decent shots so I decided to sit it out in the car, smoking a cigarette and refreshing Blockfolio. Before eventually hopping over the stile, towards the rocky relic. Just out of shot was one angry looking Bull. I'd already planned to scale up the chamber should he attack me. Thankfully there was no need!
Next on my list was an Iron Age settlement on the coast, not far from South Stack lighthouse. By the time I arrived, the sun had come up and there were some impressive clouds on display over an unusually calm Irish Sea.
The information boards give you an example of how these coastal people lived 2500 years ago. They would build high up on the cliffs to detect any approaching threats, keep animals for milk and eggs and forage for shellfish on the beaches below.
The hut circles varied in size from huge living quarters to smaller rectangular huts for the storage of food and supplies.
My final port of call was a break from the history lessons, with a well earned slow walk along Cemaes beach.
Cemaes is the most Northerly point of Wales and I had the beach all to myself to reflect on what it might have been like to live in on this island thousands of years ago.
You can find a full list of historic monuments in Anglesey here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scheduled_Monuments_in_Anglesey
Thanks for reading