Reasons for Designation
Chambered tombs are funerary monuments constructed and used during the Early
and Middle Neolithic periods (3400-2400 BC). They comprise linear mounds of
stone covering one or more stone-lined burial chambers. With other types of
long barrow they form the burial places of Britain's early farming communities
and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly within
the present landscape. Where investigated, chambered tombs appear to have been
used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having
been selected for interment. The number of burials placed within the tombs
suggests they were used over a considerable period of time and that they were
important ritual sites for local communities. Some 300 chambered tombs are
recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive
as upstanding monuments, and due to their rarity, their considerable age and
longevity as a monument type, all chambered tombs are considered to be
nationally important.
Details
Green Low chambered tomb is located in the south-eastern uplands of the
limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a sub-circular mound
measuring 22.5m by 19m and surviving to a height of c.0.75m. The profile of
the barrow has been lowered by stone-robbing carried out in the eighteenth
century. This activity exposed a single wedge-shaped chamber towards the
southern end of the barrow constructed of limestone slabs and measuring 1.8m
long by between 0.9m and 1.5m wide. This was approached from the south by a
short paved passage which, together with the chamber, was excavated by Thomas
Bateman in 1843 and found to contain disturbed human and animal remains and
sherds of Neolithic pottery. A second partial excavation of the barrow was
carried out in 1963 and 1964 under the direction of T G Manby. At this time
the passage was found to lead from the centre of a walled facade set c.5m in
from the southern edge of the barrow. The facade was 9.9m long and survived
to a height of c.0.5m as four courses of horizontally laid limestone blocks.
The ends terminated against projecting wings of barrow material, creating a
forecourt measuring 8.25m from east to west by 2.4m from north to south.
After burials had been placed in the passage and chamber, the tomb was closed
by filling the forecourt with rubble. The rest of the barrow was built of
horizontally laid limestone blocks covered over with earth. A disarticulated
skeleton was found east of the chamber and further human bones were found to
the north but scattered amongst the barrow material, indicating that they were
incorporated during construction. Beaker sherds, pieces of grooved ware
pottery and fragments of a polished greenstone axe indicate a Late Neolithic
date for the barrow. However, a disturbed area against the west side of the
chamber, from which Roman coins and pottery of the late third century AD were
recovered, show that the barrow was re-used at a much later date. Excluded
from the scheduling is the drystone wall crossing the southern edge of the
monument but the ground underneath is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
13368
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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
