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 monument is one of a closely associated group of barrows on Huggate Wold.
The location of the barrows alongside an ancient greenway, and close to the
very extensive systems of dykes and hollow ways dating back to the Bronze Age,
offers important insights into ancient land use and territorial divisions for
social, ritual and agricultural purposes in this area of the Yorkshire Wolds.
Despite part excavation by J R Mortimer in 1882, an earlier unrecorded
excavation, and the effects of ploughing over many years, the barrow still
survives as a visible feature in the landscape, and will contain further
burials and archaeological information relating to its construction.
Details
The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow on Huggate Wold, situated about
1.5km south of Fridaythorpe Village and 500m NNW of Horsedale Plantation, in
fields between Holm Dale to the north east, and Horse Dale to the south. The
barrow is one of a group of six barrows surviving in close proximity in this
area, which together form part of a much larger group of bowl barrows
dispersed across Huggate Wold and Huggate Pasture.
Although altered over the years by agricultural activity which has reduced the
height of the mound and spread its surface area, the barrow is still visible
as a low mound up to 0.25m high and 22m in diameter. It is surrounded by a
ditch c.3m wide which, although infilled by ploughing and now no longer
visible at ground level, will survive as a buried feature.
The monument was originally part of a larger cemetery of 20 barrows existing
adjacent to an ancient trackway, which is itself related to the ancient
greenway in the Wolds of East Yorkshire, now known as the Wolds Way. The
barrow cemetery lies around 800m to the north of the linear bank system of
Horse Dale, and Holm Dale to the east, and should therefore be viewed in the
context of the wider ancient landscape, where extensive systems of banks,
dykes and hollow ways link large tracts of the countryside in this area of the
Yorkshire Wolds.
The barrow was partly excavated by J R Mortimer in March 1882, and was even
then observed to have been reduced in height and dispersed by the effects of
ploughing, when it stood to a height of 0.45m. An earlier excavation of
unknown date was also observed to have taken place, which had removed the
primary central burial; this had apparently lain within an oval grave
orientated east-west and measuring 2m by 1.5m, reaching a depth of 1m below
the floor of the mound. Deposits disturbed by this earlier excavation had left
broken bones and portions of thick cranial bones of what was interpreted to
have been a large individual. A large hand struck flake of local flint was
also 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.
