Reasons for Designation
Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite some reduction in their heights through cultivation and partial early excavation, the five bowl barrows 550m north of Trewindle, forming part of a round barrow cemetery, survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, longevity, relative chronology, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument, which falls into five areas of protection, includes five bowl barrows, situated on the summit of a prominent branching ridge, which forms the watershed between the Rivers Lerryn and Fowey. The five barrows, which have a roughly north west to south east alignment, include four closely-spaced barrows with a single outlier to the west. All five survive as circular mounds with individual surrounding quarry ditches, from which construction material was derived, being preserved as buried features. The single barrow mound measures approximately 12m in diameter and 1.4m high. Of the group of four, the western barrow mound is 22m in diameter and 2.9m high with an early excavation trench crossing the mound from north to south. The centre western barrow is a 24m diameter and 0.4m high mound with a central hollow. The centre eastern mound measures 16m in diameter and 2.3m high with an excavation trench crossing the mound from north to south. The eastern barrow is 15m in diameter and 2.1m high with a central excavation hollow.
These five barrows form part of a much larger round barrow cemetery and other barrows within it are the subject of separate schedulings.
Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-432747, 432720
