Reasons for Designation
A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for
ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
Two of the best known and earliest recognised areas are around Avebury and
Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site.
The area of chalk downland which surrounds Stonehenge contains one of the
densest and most varied groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age field monuments in
Britain. Included within the area are Stonehenge itself, the Stonehenge
cursus, the Durrington Walls henge, and a variety of burial monuments, many
grouped into cemeteries.
The area has been the subject of archaeological research since the 18th
century when Stukeley recorded many of the monuments and partially excavated a
number of the burial mounds. More recently, the collection of artefacts from
the surfaces of ploughed fields has supplemented the evidence for ritual and
burial by revealing the intensity of contemporary settlement and land-use. In
view of the importance of the area, all ceremonial and sepulchral monuments of
this period which retain significant archaeological remains are identified as
nationally important.
Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow and occasionally associated with
earlier long barrows. Where investigation beyond the round barrows has
occurred, contemporary or later 'flat' burials between the barrow mounds have
often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland
England with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases they are
clustered around other important contemporary monuments, as is the case both
here and at Avebury. Often occupying prominent positions, they are a major
historic element in the modern landscape, while their diversity and their
longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of
beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities.
Details
The monument includes a bell barrow situated south of the Cursus and east of
Fargo Plantation with views across a shallow combe towards Stonehenge and
Normanton Down. The monument forms part of the Cursus round barrow cemetery.
which contains 16 round barrows in all, including seven bowl barrows, six bell
barrows, a twin bell barrow and a disc barrow.
The barrow has a mound 35m in diameter and 1.5m high, surrounded by a berm
which is no longer visible, and a ditch 4m wide and 0.2m deep, giving an
overall diameter of 43m. The ditch, from which material was quarried during
the construction of the monument, is most obvious on the west of the mound but
difficult to distinguish elsewhere. It does, however, survive as a buried
feature. Partial excavation in the 19th century revealed a primary inhumation
with a beaker and two secondary inhumations. Further partial excavation in
1960 revealed evidence of a berm surrounding the central mound and finds which
included decayed leather, and a contracted inhumation burial lying beneath a
tapered board and accompanied by a long-necked beaker and various implements.
The ditch silt contained a bell beaker and another contracted inhumation.
Fragments of blue-stone were also found.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10339
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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
