Two bowl barrows 365m south of Hillside

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 some mutilation of the northerly mound the two bowl barrows south of Hillside survive reasonably well. The monument is a rare survival in Staffordshire of two bowl barrows in such close proximity. Limited antiquarian investigation at these barrows located human and faunal remains together with artefacts of flint and bronze, and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the mounds and upon the old landsurface.

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows located on the highest point of a ridge 350m and 380m south of Hillside. The northerly barrow survives as a partly mutilated oval earth and clay mound up to 1.4m high with maximum dimensions of 24m by 19m. Limited antiquarian investigation across the centre of the mound located a contracted adult inhumation laid upon a thin layer of ashes on the old ground surface. Elsewhere in the trench a cremation, flint artefacts, a bronze awl, unburnt human bones and two animal teeth were found. The southerly barrow survives as an oval earthen mound up to 1m high with maximum dimensions of 28m by 23m. Limited antiquarian investigation immediately north of the mound's centre located a rock-cut grave measuring 2.75m by 1.2m containing a contracted adult inhumation. Nearby was a large sandstone with a cupmark. Above the grave, upon the old ground surface, was a decayed child inhumation together with a large boar's tusk and some flints. Close to the barrow's surface was a deposit of calcined bones, pottery sherds and burnt flint artefacts. An Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar situated on the northerly barrow is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath it is included, as is the land between the two barrows.

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:

22416

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861)

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

End of official list entry

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