Reasons for Designation
A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for
ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
Two of the best known and earliest recognised areas are around Avebury and
Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site.
The area of chalk downland which surrounds Stonehenge contains one of the
densest and most varied groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age field monuments in
Britain. Included within the area are Stonehenge itself, the Stonehenge
cursus, the Durrington Walls henge, and a variety of burial monuments, many
grouped into cemeteries.
The area has been the subject of archaeological research since the 18th
century when Stukeley recorded many of the monuments and partially excavated a
number of the burial mounds. More recently, the collection of artefacts from
the surfaces of ploughed fields has supplemented the evidence for ritual and
burial by revealing the intensity of contemporary settlement and land-use. In
view of the importance of the area, all ceremonial and sepulchral monuments of
this period which retain significant archaeological remains are identified as
nationally important.
Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow and occasionally associated with
earlier long barrows. Where investigation beyond the round barrows has
occurred, contemporary or later 'flat' burials between the barrow mounds have
often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland
England with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases they are
clustered around other important contemporary monuments, as is the case both
here and at Avebury. Often occupying prominent positions, they are a major
historic element in the modern landscape, while their diversity and their
longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of
beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities.
Details
The monument includes a bell barrow and two levelled bowl barrows forming part
of a linear round barrow cemetery which is aligned east-west and crosses the
course of The Avenue. These barrows are located east of The Avenue on a south
facing slope which gradually declines towards the A303. The mounds of the
levelled bowl barrows are now difficult to identify on the ground, having been
levelled by cultivation. They are, however, surrounded by ditches from which
material was quarried during their construction. These have become infilled
over the years but survive as buried features and are visible on aerial
photographs from which the overall diameters of the bowl barrows are
calculated to be 20m in the case of the westernmost barrow and 18m in the case
of the central barrow. The bell barrow is located 15m east of the central
barrow and has an overall diameter of c.30m including the mound, which
survives as a slight earthwork 0.2m high, the berm and surrounding quarry
ditch which survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. This barrow and the
central bowl barrow were partially excavated in 1959. A pit located off centre
containing Neolithic pottery was found in the bowl barrow and two primary
cremations contained in inverted urns were found in the bell barrow.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10441
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
