Platform cairn 60m north of Raddick Hill summit

Overview

Location

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.

Despite evidence of partial excavation, the platform cairn 60m north of Raddick Hilll summit, survives comparatively well and contains archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. This cairn forms an important constituent part of a diverse group of monuments including contemporary settlements, field systems and other funerary sites.

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.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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
Burnard, R, 'Devonshire Association Transactions' in Eighteenth Report of the Barrow Committee, (1899), 98
Burnard, R, 'Devonshire Association Transactions' in Eighteenth Report of the Barrow Committee, (1899), 98
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Dartmoor Barrows, , Vol. 36, (1978), 174
Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX57SE73,
National Archaeological Record, SX57SE22,

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.