Archaeologists have excavated a 4,000-year-old burial mound on Anglesey in northwest Wales.
     Overlooking the Irish Sea, Anglesey is dotted with numerous Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monuments. The most famous is the 5,000-year-old passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu (roughly,'brin kethlee dee - 'the mound in the dark grove'), which has an entrance passage that aligns with the rising midsummer sun. It was archaeologically excavated in 1928 and 1929, and later reconstructed. Modern archaeologists have turned their attention to a burial mound about 50 metres from the famous passage tomb, in the expectation that today's scientific techniques will reveal new details about the people who built it.
     University of Cardiff archaeologist Ffion Reynolds has led excavations at Bryn Celli Ddu for the past four years, and her team will complete a fifth year of excavations at the site which includes the burial mound. Reynolds, who also works for the Welsh heritage agency Cadw, says tests will help determine whether any human remains are present.
     Distinctive pieces of Bronze Age pottery and flint tools were found during the latest excavations, which indicate the burial mound was built around 1,000 years later than the Neolithic passage tomb.
     Reynolds says evidence from sites like Bryn Celli Ddu shows that ancient monuments were often used for ceremonial purposes by later peoples. At Bryn Celli Ddu, archaeological evidence now suggests that the original tomb was started in the Neolithic period, about 5,000 years ago, and added to over the centuries.
     Geophysical surveys and excavations also revealed much older structures and artifacts buried at different locations around the Bryn Celli Ddu tomb, including a circle of Neolithic pits, pieces of Neolithic pottery, and the remains of a stone ax.

Edited from LiveScience (28 June 2019)