Stone wristguard from Carneddau, near Carno.

This stone wristguard was found in a hearth on the old ground surface beneath the cairn. It was broken and badly abraded when found. The wristguard would have been fastened to the wrist and forearm by a cord passed through the holes at each end. They were probably worn by archers to protect the forearm from the recoil of the bowstring. It is only the second wristguard to have been found in Wales.

In the summer of 1989, the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust excavated the Bronze Age cairn, near Carno, to recover buried archaeological information in response to a forestry planting application.

The site proved to date to c. 1800 BC and to have had a complex history, undergoing several changes and additions. The burials and rituals carried out at the site also proved to be complex involving funeral pyres and cremation burials.

In 1990, further excavations were carried out on a monument which turned out to be another Bronze Age cairn. The cairn proved to be similar to that excavated in 1989 and covered a number of cremation burials placed in pits dug into the subsoil.

Description: Powysland Museum and Montgomery Canal Centre