Round cairn, 220m West of Broom House

Reasons for Designation

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Although the round cairn has been subject to partial exavation in the past, the extent of disturbance is limited to the central area; archaeological deposits which survive across the entire cairn remain undisturbed. The monument will contribute to any study of the nature and extent of Bronze Age settlement in the area.

Details

The monument includes a round cairn of Bronze Age date situated on level ground at the foot of two locally prominent hillocks. The cairn, composed of earth and stone, is 16m in diameter and a maximum of 1.2m high. At the centre of the cairn there is a hollow disturbance in which the cairn material is visible; this was caused by the partial excavation of the mound by Canon W Greenwell in the 19th century. During these excavations the cremated body of an adult was discovered immediately west of the centre, lying in a slight hollow along with the cremated body of a child placed in a Bronze Age pottery vessel. At the centre of the mound fragments of a further cremation and a vessel were discovered; these had been damaged by the later erection of a cattle rubbing post on the mound. Both urns are now held in the British Museum.

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:

21000

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hope-Dodds, M, The Victoria History of the County of Northumberland: Volume XV, (1940), 52
Greenwell, W, British Barrows, (1877), 433

End of official list entry

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