Reasons for Designation
Entrance graves are funerary and ritual monuments dating to the later Neolithic, Early and Middle Bronze Age (c.2500-1000 BC). They were constructed with a roughly circular mound of heaped rubble and earth, up to 25m in diameter, the perimeter of which may be defined by a kerb of edge-set slabs or, occasionally, coursed stone. The mound contains a rectangular chamber built of edge-set slabs or coursed rubble walling, or a combination of both. The chamber was roofed by further slabs, called capstones, spanning the walls. The chamber was accessible via a gap in the mound's kerb or outer edge and often extends back beyond the centre of the mound. Excavations within entrance graves have revealed cremated human bone and funerary urns, usually within the chambers but on occasion within the mound. Unburnt human bone has been recovered but is only rarely preserved. Some chambers have also produced ritual deposits of domestic midden debris, including dark earth typical of the surface soil found in settlements, animal bone and artefact fragments. Entrance graves may occur as single monuments or in small or large groups often associated with other cairn types in cemeteries. Entrance graves are one of several forms of chambered tombs found in western Britain and adjacent areas to the south, including the Channel Islands and Brittany. In England, entrance graves are confined to the extreme south west, with 79 of the 93 recorded surviving examples located on the Isles of Scilly and the remaining 14 located in Penwith peninsula at the western tip of
Cornwall. Despite some damage caused by the construction of a boundary wall, the entrance grave 140m east of Kerrow survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices, possible re-use and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument includes an entrance grave, situated on the lower south western slopes of Carn Brea. The entrance grave survives as a roughly circular stone and earth built mound measuring approximately 6.5m in diameter and up to 1m high. At least three stones of a retaining outer kerb are visible on the northern side as is a slab built rectangular chamber topped with two slabs. The chamber is aligned from south east to north west and measures approximately 2.8m long, 1m wide and 0.9m high. It is partially blocked by an upright stone at the western end. The mound has been crossed by a modern field boundary.
Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-420742
