Round cairn 700m NNW of Bowhayland Farm

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 on Ridge hill has survived substantially intact, despite the limited actions of stone robbers, and it will retain many original features including burial deposits. Among these features, the presence of an adjacent marker slab is highly unusual. The proximity of this cairn to extensive, broadly contemporary field systems and the Nine Stones stone circle demonstrates well the nature of funerary and ritual activities and their relationship to settlement during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a small Prehistoric round cairn situated near the centre of the north-west slope of Ridge hill on eastern Bodmin Moor. The monument is located close to extensive, broadly contemporary field systems, settlement sites and a stone circle. The cairn survives as a circular mound of heaped rubble, 5m in diameter and 0.6m high, and is largely turf-covered over its rubble content. A shallow hollow, 1m in diameter and 0.2m deep, due to relatively recent stone-robbing, is located slightly north-west of the mound's centre. The cairn is accompanied by a small outlying slab, 0.5m beyond the north-west perimeter of the mound, considered to form an original feature marking a significant point on the cairn's circumference. This outlier comprises a small end-set slab, 0.3m high and 0.25m square in section, tapered to a wedge-shaped upper end. Beyond this monument, the north-west boundary of an extensive Prehistoric field system extends to within 140m south-east of the cairn.

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:

15195

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1108,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1036,
Consulted 3/1992, Carter, A/RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 2377 & SX 2378,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1020; 1021; 1030,

End of official list entry

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