Ancient Sites of the Elan Valley

The Elan Valley was populated and undergoing clearance during the later Neolithic and early Bronze Age periods, from perhaps around 3000 BC. During this time, people made tools and implements from copper alloy and bronze. The characteristic burial and ritual monuments of the prehistoric period are the burial cairns, standing stones, stone alignments and stone circles that crown many of the peaks and ridges of the Elan and Clearwen Valleys.

Evidence suggests that the climate for most of the Bronze Age was warmer than it is today, with steady population increase, and land that appears remote and marginal today being used by Bronze Age communities. There are a significant number of sites around the Elan Valley, including standing stones, stone circles, stone rows and a variety of cairns.