Eastern bowl barrow of a pair, 350m south east of Springwell 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.

The barrow is one of a pair of bowl barrows surviving on the edge of the deserted medieval village of Elmswell. Despite part excavation of this monument, the barrow survives reasonably well. Excavation revealed that the barrow was possibly reused during the Roman period, which is unusual. The barrow will retain further archaeological information, including evidence for its manner of construction, environmental information from the buried land surface, and further burial remains.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow situated in a field 350m south east of Springwell Farm, on the southern edge of the earthwork remains of the medieval village of Elmswell. The barrow survives as a mound 8m in diameter and 0.8m in height and is surrounded by a low ditch 2m wide and around 0.1m deep, which, although partly infilled through the course of time, will also survive as a buried feature. Both barrows of the pair were excavated by J R Mortimer in 1873. This barrow was found to contain fragments of a funerary urn containing bone ash of what was presumed to be a cremation, interred in a shallow hole dug into the old ground surface. Fragments of Roman pottery, corroded iron and a thin piece of bronze were also recovered from the mound.

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:

26529

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Mortimer, J R, Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905), 262-3

Other
Bastow, M.E., AM107, (1989)
Bastow, M.E., AM107, (1985)
Walker, J., AM12, (1980)
Humberside SMR, Sites and Monuments Records Sheet, (1994)
Craster, OE, AM7, (1966)

End of official list entry

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