Reasons for Designation
Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and, consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded nationally. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be important. The long barrow 335m north west of Starveall Farm survives comparatively well, it will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow, situated on the upper north facing slopes of a ridge, overlooking the head of a valley of a tributary to the Little Avon River. The long barrow survives as a roughly rectangular mound aligned north to south which measures approximately 23m long and up to 7.5m wide. It stands from 1.7m up to 2m high with the side ditches preserved as entirely buried features. At one time it was surrounded by a retaining wal,l although there is now little surviving trace of this feature.
Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity some of which are the subject of a separate schedulings.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
SG 42
Legacy System:
RSM - OCN
End of official list entry
