Bowl barrow 600m WSW of New Buildings

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.

Ploughing has reduced the height of the bowl barrow 600m WSW of New Buildings but it will not have affected archaeological deposits on and under the original ground surface or within the quarry ditch. These will provide important information concerning the monument's construction and the mortuary practices of its builders. Environmental evidence will also be retained in these features, illustrating the character of the landscape in which the monument was set. The barrow's proximity to the prehistoric ridgeway now formalised as Bluestone Heath Road, and to a number of other Bronze Age and Neolithic burial mounds in the vicinity poses wider questions concerning both the ritual significance of the location and the nature of settlement patterns during the prehistoric period.

Details

The monument includes the buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow located 146m above sea level in arable land about 600m WSW of New Buildings and about 200m west of Bluestone Heath Road. It has a diameter of approximately 36.5m and while the mound is known to have stood to a height of about 1.5m, this has been reduced in recent years by ploughing to a few centimetres. The barrow is thought to have been encircled by a ditch now buried beneath the present ground surface from which material for its construction would have been quarried. Its proximity to Bluestone Heath Road, which is thought to have originated as a prehistoric trackway, and to a number of other Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, indicates that the area was of continuing ritual significance in the prehistoric period.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 5 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:

27879

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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