Bowl barrow 230m south west of High Barn Farm

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Although this barrow has been partially excavated and altered by agricultural activity it remains visible as a mound. Further evidence of the structure of the mound, the surrounding ditch and burials will survive. It will also contribute to an understanding of the wider group of which it is a member.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow, one of a group of similar monuments in this area of the Yorkshire Wolds, and is situated on the edge of a disused and partially infilled chalk quarry. The barrow mound is 0.3m high and 25m in diameter. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was excavated during the construction of the monument, surrounds the barrow mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature 4m wide. The barrow has twice been investigated by antiquarians, in 1851 by James Silburn, and again in 1882 by J R Mortimer, when two inhumations, one cremation, and other fragments of human bone were found.

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:

21112

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Mortimer, J R, Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905), 314-315
Piggott, S, Neolithic Pottery, (1954), 145
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society: Volume 3, Vol. 3, (1937), 210

End of official list entry

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