Reasons for Designation
Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of
long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded
nationally. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as
earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and
their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be
nationally important.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow, located on a gravel terrace to the east
of the old course of the River Ouse and largely buried beneath later deposits
of marine clay and peat. The barrow is marked on the modern ground surface by
a low, spread mound of lighter coloured, slightly sandy soil, approximately
0.4m in height and covering an area with dimensions of approximately 55m north
east - south west by 27m north west - south east. Below this, underlying the
peat and clay, is an earthen mound which, according to measurements taken by
means of borehole samples, is approximately 18m wide, stands to a height of
1.2m above the original ground surface, and is surrounded by a ditch
approximately 5m wide and 0.8m deep in relation to the same surface. The ditch
contains waterlogged deposits, covered and sealed by the marine clay which
was deposited early in the Bronze Age.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
20806
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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
