Kerbed cairn 500m east of Casehill

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Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1004658
Date first listed:: 29-Oct-1973

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1004658
Date first listed:: 29-Oct-1973
Location Description:: Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: St. Breward
National Grid Reference:: SX1261477942

Reasons for Designation

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time.

Kerbed cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds defined by an outer kerb of upright stones or walling covering single or multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, kerbed cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite some stone robbing and the erection of a boundary wall, the kerbed cairn 500m east of Casehill survives comparatively well and 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 kerbed cairn, situated at the summit of a prominent hill between Casehill Downs and Emblance Downs. The cairn survives as circular stony mound of up to 19m in diameter and 0.6m high with a partially visible retaining kerb of upright slabs the highest of which is 0.8m. There is a central hollow and the north side has been bisected by a field boundary.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-433046

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: CO 902
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.