Bowl barrow 120m north-east of Bincliff Mines

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite limited antiquarian investigations and some minor mutilation of the mound by stone robbing, the bowl barrow 120m north-east of Bincliff Mines survives well. These investigations located human and faunal remains together with pottery and artefacts of flint and bronze, and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old landsurface.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located 120m north-east of Bincliff Mines on the western side of the crest of a broad ridgetop. It survives as a slightly mutilated oval earthen mound up to 1.6m high with maximum dimensions of 23.5m by 21m. On the barrow's south-west and north-east sides is a rock- cut ditch up to 7m wide and 0.3m deep. This ditch has been infilled by ploughing on the barrow's south-eastern side but destroyed by a mining track on the north-western side. Limited antiquarian investigation at the centre of the barrow in 1845 located a rock-cut grave containing an inhumation, a food vessel, a cremation and a flint. Above this grave pottery sherds and a fragment of human skull were found. Elsewhere in the mound a further three inhumations, a cremation, flints, animal bones, antler tines and a beaker were discovered. Further limited investigations five years later found a cremation, human bones, antler tines, pottery, a bronze bracelet and flints. A drystone wall on the barrow's north-western side is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath it is included.

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:

22405

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861)
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849)

Other
Carrington, Barrow Diggers (Unpub MS with letters and notes), 1848,
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), (1988)
Bateman, Desc & Obs Further Discoveries in the Barrows of Derbyshire,

End of official list entry

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