Bant's Carn Burial Chamber, St Marys, Isles of Scilly

Bant's Carn is a Neolithic entrance grave (burial chamber). It is built on the crest of Halangy Down. It is believed to have been built in around 2000 BC and continued in use until about 1500 BC. It has an outer platform around an inner mound containing a stone slab-built chamber. The chamber measures 5.25 metres long, 1.5 metres high and up to 1.6 metres wide. An excavation of the monument was carried out by the antiquarian G. Bonsor in 1899. This revealed four piles of cremated human bone at the western end of the chamber floor as well as Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery. Restoration work led by P. Ashbee was carried out in 1970. This work uncovered decorated prehistoric pottery fragments and two worked flints. This site is now in the care of English Heritage (2010). Find out more.

Location

Isles of Scilly St Marys

Period

Prehistoric (to AD42)

Tags

neolithic archaeology tomb english heritage stone age death