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 set on high ground above the Wylye Valley.
The barrow mound is ovoid in plan and orientated NNE-SSW. It has dimensions
of 32m long, 14m wide and stands to a height of 1.5m. Although no longer
visible at ground level ditches, from which material was quarried during the
construction of the monument, flank the mound to the east and west. These
have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.3m
across.
The site was partially excavated by Colt-Hoare and Cunnington in the 19th
century. Finds included the burials of three adults and a youth as well as
the skull of a fifth person. They also found a stone cist or box, 1m deep and
filled with flints and marl.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
12299
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
