Bowl barrow 500m west of Well Bottom Wood, forming part of the Pitcombe Down round barrow cemetery

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.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, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The bowl barrow 500m west of Well Bottom Wood survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the Pitcombe Down cemetery and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a chalk ridge of the South Dorset Downs, overlooking the South Winterbourne Valley to the north east and the Bride Valley to the south. The barrow is one of ten which form the Pitcombe Down round barrow cemetery. The barrow has a mound composed of earth, chalk and flint with a maximum diameter of 35m and a maximum height of c.1.5m. This is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditch has become infilled over the years, but it is sometimes visible as a parchmark and will survive as a buried feature c.3m wide.

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:

22966

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 39

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