Round Barrow on Dendles Waste (Kerbed cairn with cist in Dendles Waste, 920m SSW of Yealm Steps)

Reasons for Designation

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in southern Britain and, because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, the latter predominating in areas of upland Britain where such raw materials were locally available in abundance. Round cairns may cover single or multiple burials and are sometimes surrounded by an outer ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. Cists are small rectangular stone structures used for burial purposes and date to the Bronze Age. On Dartmoor they are made up of regular stone slabs forming a box-like structure sometimes topped by a larger coverstone. They can be associated with cairns, ring cairns and cairnfield groups. The considerable variation in form and longevity of round cairns provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite disturbance in the form of partial early excavation or robbing and disturbance from forestry, the kerbed cairn with cist in Dendles Waste, 920m SSW of Yealm Steps survives comparatively well and is an important monument of its type given its well-defined and massively built kerb and cist. It will contain important archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, use, burial practices and landscape context.

Details

This monument includes a kerbed cairn with a cist situated on a ridge forming the watershed between the River Yealm and Broadall Lake. It survives as a partial kerb of nine large orthostats standing up to 1.1m high forming an incomplete ring measuring approximately 4m in diameter internally which surround a centrally placed rectangular cist which measures 1.2m long, 0.6m wide and 0.5m deep. The coverstone is missing and all traces of the cairn material which would have originally formed a small mound over the cist have been removed. The kerb is incomplete on the western side. Sources: DNPA HER:-SX66SW33 NMR:-SX66SW35 PastScape Monument No:- 442267 Butler, J., Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, Volume Three - The South-West (1994), 194

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

DV 441

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

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