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. Platform cairns are funerary
monuments covering single or multiple burials and dating to the Early Bronze
Age (c.2000-1600 BC). They were constructed as low flat-topped mounds of stone
rubble up to 40m in external diameter. Some examples have other features,
including peripheral banks and internal mounds, constructed on this platform.
A kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds the edges of the platform, bank or
mound, or all three. Platform cairns occur as isolated monuments, in small
groups, or in cairn cemeteries. In the latter instances they are normally
found alongside cairns of other types. Although no precise figure is
available, current evidence indicates that there are under 250 known examples
of this monument class nationally. As a rare monument type exhibiting
considerable variation in form, a substantial proportion of surviving examples
are considered worthy of preservation.
Details
This monument includes a platform cairn situated on the northern edge of
Raddick Hill plateau overlooking the valley of the Hart Tor Brook. The cairn
mound measures 12m in diameter and stands up to 1.2m high. A hollow in the
centre of the mound is probably the result of a partial excavation in 1898 by
the Dartmoor Exploration Committee. This work revealed a previously robbed
cist containing a small piece of corroded bronze. The cist with a surviving
capstone on the east side is orientated ESE to WNW and measures 0.7m long.
Two small mounds on the northern and southern edges of the cairn have been
identified as possible satellite cairns.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
22311
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
