Casgliadau Arlein

25 fragments of a Bronze Age encrusted cinerary urn.

25 fragments of a Bronze Age encrusted cinerary urn excavated from a tumulus at Cadno Mountain near Pendine, Carmarthenshire. Some fragments left in situ indicate the urn was iinverted over cremated human remains. Further fragments were recovered from the vicinity, having been disturbed during earlier human digging that was "not made in the interests of archaeology" (Ward 1918: 38).

The urn is typical in form and design, hand-made with a coarse clay fabric, and was ill-fired. The deep bevelled rim is decorated with applied strips forming a bold raised zig-zag pattern decorated with diagonal incised lines and raised discs, also decorated with incised lines in a starburst pattern radiating from the centre, formed by applied clay pellets in the negative space around the external surface. The shoulder below is defined by a pair of shallow grooves incised with transverse diagonal lines forming a circumferential chevron pattern. Faint but long diagonal lines extend below the shoulder. The lip of the rim is slightly everted and bevelled inwards with incised lines forming a repeading V-shape along the edge.

The diameter of the mouth is c.330mm and the diameter of the shoulder c.356mm. The height would have been approximately 457mm. The fragments consist of four large refitted pieces, the rest being small and unfitted, with a total combined weight of 1461.5.