Round cairn 630m ENE of Sunbiggin Farm

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.

Despite limited antiquarian investigation of the monument's centre, the round cairn 630m ENE of Sunbiggin Farm survives reasonably well. This investigation located human and faunal remains together with a stone artefact and further evidence that interments and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old land surface beneath.

Details

The monument is a round cairn located 630m ENE of Sunbiggin Farm, on the edge of a promontory of high ground projecting south from the limestone upland known as Little Kinmond. It includes a partly turf-covered mound of limestone rubble 17.5m in diameter and up to 2m high. At the cairn's centre is an irregular hollow 0.5m deep containing the remains of a stone cist investigated during the 19th century. The remains of three burials were found either in the cist or in close proximity to it, together with a stone artefact, bones of ox and goat and a portion of deer antler.

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:

23619

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Greenwell, W, British Barrows, (1877), 395

Other
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)
SMR No. 1968, Cumbria SMR, Round Barrow 1/3 mile NE of Sunbiggin, (1985)

End of official list entry

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