Round cairn 1.58km WNW of Tresellern 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 East Moor has survived well with no visible or recorded evidence for any previous disturbance. The high altitude, skyline setting of this cairn and its presence among a broadly contemporary grouping of funerary and ceremonial monuments on East Moor demonstrates well the nature and distribution of ritual activities during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a Prehistoric round cairn situated on the crest of a broad ridge in the southern part of East Moor on eastern Bodmin Moor. The cairn forms one of a dispersed group of broadly contemporary funerary and ceremonial monuments on East Moor. The cairn survives as a turf-covered circular mound of heaped rubble, 6.6m in diameter and 0.7m high, rising above the surrounding peaty turf and clearly visible due to the thinner vegetation covering its rubble content. The location of the cairn on the crest renders it visible for a considerable distance across the moor from the east.

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:

15189

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
consulted 1992, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 2277; SX 2278; SX 2377; SX 2378,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1088,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1089,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1101,
consulted 3/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1090,

End of official list entry

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