Reasons for Designation
Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in Southern Britain and
because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most
complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The
great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct evidence
for human exploitation of the Moor from the early Prehistoric period onwards.
The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites,
major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments, as well
as later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive
changes in the pattern of land use through time.
This cairn with a cist is a relatively well-preserved example close to
another monument of the same type. Its relationship to this and other
monuments indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of
Prehistoric life on this part of the Moor.
Details
Many examples of Prehistoric funerary monuments are preserved on Dartmoor,
mostly dating to the Bronze Age (c.2500-500 BC). To celebrate or commemorate
the dead, mounds of earth or stone were piled in a roughly hemispherical
shape over the burial, which was sometimes contained in a small rectangular
structure, or cist, made of stone slabs. Some monuments also include
kerbstones marking the outer edge of the mound and a surrounding ditch.
This cairn with a cist lies on a west-facing slope between Langcombe Brook
and Deadman's Bottom, close to another cairn and cist. It consists of a mound
5m in diameter and 0.3m in height with a retaining kerb on its northern side
and a rectangular cist. The cist is 0.8m in length and 0.7m in width. It
retains both end slabs and the eastern side, the other side slab and
coverstone were noted nearby by Worth in 1890.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10676
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
