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 long
barrows are recorded in England. 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 situated on the crest of a north-facing
slope on Therfield Heath, nearly 100m south-east of a Bronze Age round barrow
cemetery. It includes a trapezoidal earthern mound aligned east-west and
measuring 45m in length by 22m across at the eastern end and narrowing
slightly to 15m at the western end. In height the mound measures c.2m at the
western end rising to c.3m at the broader eastern end. Although no longer
visible at ground level, flanking quarry ditches, from which the material was
quarried during the construction of the monument, run parallel to the north
and south sides of the mound. These have become infilled over the years but
survive as buried features c.2m wide.
The barrow was partially excavated by E B Nunn in 1855 and again in 1935 by
C W Phillips. One cremation and one inhumation were uncovered at the eastern
end of the barrow whilst at the western end two cists and another inhumation
were discovered. Recorded finds included pottery from the Early Bronze Age
and the Early Iron Age, an iron spearhead and a metal band which would have
been fitted to the end of a stick, known as a ferrule, from the Anglo-Saxon
period.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
20635
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
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
