Round cairn on Harland Edge

Reasons for Designation

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds 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, 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 and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The cairn is a well preserved example which appears not to have been disturbed and so will retain intact archaeological remains. Also of importance is its proximity to other Bronze Age cairns and its association with a relict Bronze Age landscape.

Details

The monument is located on a south west facing shelf below the crest of Harland Edge which is in an area of the eastern gritstone moorlands of the Peak District commonly known as the East Moors. It includes a roughly circular gritstone cairn measuring c.4.5m wide and c.0.5m high. It is one of several cairns to be found on Harland Edge, all of which are assigned to the Bronze Age on the basis of form, excavated evidence and their proximity to the extensive Bronze Age field systems occurring below Harland Edge on Beeley Moor and Beeley Warren.

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:

23329

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal in Bronze Age Remains on the East Moors of the Peak District, Vol. 106, (1986), 65

Other
Barnatt, John, (1993)

End of official list entry

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