Kerbed round cairn 110m NNE of Carey Tor

Reasons for Designation

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Round cairns are funerary monuments covering single or multiple burials and dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as mounds of earth and stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter but usually considerably smaller; a kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds the edges of the mound. Burials were placed in small pits, or on occasion within a box-like structure of stone slabs called a cist, let into the old ground surface or dug into the body of the cairn. Round cairns can occur as isolated monuments, in small groups or in larger cemeteries. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provides important information on the diversity of beliefs, burial practices and social organisation in the Bronze Age. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of preservation.

This round cairn near Carey Tor has survived well; it has no visible or recorded evidence for disturbance other than the natural subsidence of some kerb slabs in the north-east and south-east sectors. Its projecting inner kerb is an unusual and well preserved feature. The proximity of this cairn to broadly contemporary settlement sites around Carey Tor demonstrates well the nature of ritual activities and the organisation of land use during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a Prehistoric round cairn with a projecting inner kerb situated near broadly contemporary settlement sites on the south-east crest of the Carey Tor spur, at the southern edge of East Moor on eastern Bodmin Moor. The round cairn survives as a turf-covered, flat-topped, circular mound of heaped rubble, 8.2m in diameter and 0.6m high. The flattened top of the mound is defined by a circle of edge-set slabs, each up to 1m long and projecting up to 0.4m above the mound's turf, forming a kerb 4.3m in diameter. The kerb slabs form a circle, with breaks in the north-east and south-west sectors due in part to subsidence. Within the kerb, the top of the cairn is almost level and unbroken, with the upper edge of a single edge-set slab projecting slightly through the turf towards the western side.

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:

15186

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1082,
Consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1084,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1139,
Consulted 3/1992, Carter, A/RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 2376 & SX 2377,
Consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1083,

End of official list entry

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