The Lows bowl barrow

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 past ploughing of the barrow and limited antiquarian investigations The Lows bowl barrow survives reasonably well. These investigations located human remains associated with bronze and flint artefacts, and further similar evidence of inhumations and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old landsurface.

Details

The monument includes The Lows bowl barrow located on a flat area of a broad ridge top 240m east of Oldfields Farm. It survives as a slightly oval earthen mound up to 0.8m high with maximum dimensions of 21m by 20m. A drystone wall aligned north-northeast/south-southwest crosses the western side of the barrow. There is an oval hollow measuring 4m by 2.5m and up to 0.2m deep a little to the east of the barrow's centre. Limited antiquarian investigations close to the monument's centre and immediately to the east of centre located a rock cut grave 1.8m wide and 0.9m deep containing a contracted inhumation with a bronze dagger placed under the shoulder. The bones of a child, beaker sherds and flint artefacts were also found. The drystone wall is excluded from the scheduling although 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:

13547

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861), 154
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861), 115

Other
Bateman, Illustrations of Antiquity (Unpub volume of drawings), Sheffield City Museum
Carrington, Barrow Diggers (Unpub MS with letters and notes), 1848,
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 Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

End of official list entry

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