Neolithic long barrow 575m NNW of Moon Wood

Summary

Neolithic long barrow located 575m NNW of Moon Wood.

Reasons for Designation

The Neolithic long barrow 575m NNW of Moon Wood is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: as a substantial undisturbed prehistoric long barrow confirmed to survive by field survey, and on aerial photography as a clearly defined crop mark and mound;

* Potential: for the buried archaeological deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals. Buried environmental evidence can also inform us about the landscape in which the barrows were constructed;

* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, it is highly representative of the period;

* Rarity: as an example of a monument type which is rare nationally and one of very few monument types to offer insight into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country;

* Group value: for its close proximity to other contemporary and spatially-related scheduled monuments, most notably a long barrow 495m north of Moon Wood (NHLE 1013923) and another long barrow 480m north-east of Valley House (NHLE 1017464) with which it forms a group known as Deadmen’s Graves; the western and central barrow retain their mounds and are thought to be the only such pair of mounded long barrows now visible as earthworks in Lincolnshire.

History

Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monument, constructed from before 3800 BC with new monuments continuing to be built throughout the 4th millennium BC. Where they are precisely dated it appears their primary use for burial rarely lasted longer than about 100 years. Generally comprising long, linear earthen mounds or stone cairns, often flanked by ditches, they can appear as distinctive features in the landscape. They measure up to about 100m in length, 35m in width and 4m in height, and are sometimes trapezoidal or oval in plan. Earthen long barrows are found mostly in southern and eastern England and are usually unchambered, although some examples have been found to contain timber mortuary structures. Regional variation in construction is generally a reflection of locally available resources. Megalithic or stone, chambered tombs are most common in Scotland and Wales, but are also found in those parts of England with ready access to the large stones and boulders from which they are constructed, especially the Cotswolds, the South-West and Kent. There are around 540 long barrows recorded nationally.

Long barrows of the Lincolnshire Wolds have been identified as a distinct regional grouping of monuments in which the flanking ditches are continued around the ends of the barrow mound, either continuously or broken by a single causeway towards one end. A small number survive as earthworks but the majority are known from crop marks and soil marks where no or very low mounds are evident on the surface. Not all Lincolnshire long barrows had mounds and our current understanding of Neolithic mortuary practices in this part of the country is that the large barrow mound was in fact the final phase of construction which was not reached by all monuments. Previously many of the sites where only the ditched enclosure is known have been interpreted as a barrow where the mound has been degraded or removed by subsequent agricultural activity. In some cases the ditched enclosure (mortuary enclosure) represents a monument which never developed a mound.

The Neolithic long barrow 575m north-north-west of Moon Wood is one of a closely associated pair of long barrows known as Deadmen's Graves, which are thought to be the only such pair of mounded long barrows now visible as earthworks in Lincolnshire. The site of a third barrow was identified as a cropmark on aerial photographs and grouped with the others. Close association of the monuments indicates ritual significance of this location during the prehistoric period. The Neolithic long barrow 575m north-north-west of Moon Wood was scheduled on 23 August 1934; the Schedule was later amended on 22 February 1996. No archaeological investigation is known to have taken place and the mound is thought to be largely intact.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: The earthwork remains of a probable Neolithic long barrow are located around 55m AOD at TF 44429 71992 and 575m north-north-west of Moon Wood. It is one of a pair of closely associated mounded long barrows known as Deadmen's Graves. It is aligned east – west and lies on a south-facing slope below the summit of a spur and above the valley of Burlands Beck. The ground to the south of the mound slopes steeply to the valley bottom.

DESCRIPTION: The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a Neolithic long barrow located at TF 44429 71992, visible on aerial photographs as an elongated east – west earthwork. The mound measures approximately 50m in length and its width decreases from around 14m at the east end to around 10m at the west end. The earthwork is prominent when viewed from the south (down slope). A broad hollow or saddle across the width of the earthwork, around 20m from the east end, gives the appearance of two ‘separate mounds’ when viewed from the north where the base of the hollow is at ground level. This feature is common to a number of Lincolnshire long barrows and may have been caused by the collapse of an internal mortuary structure. The eastern end of the mound stands to a height of around 2.2m above the ground level to the south and around 1m above the ground level to the north. No archaeological investigation is known to have taken place and the mound is thought to be largely intact. Material for the mound would have been quarried from an encircling causewayed ditch, and while this ditch is no longer visible, it is thought to survive beneath the present ground surface.

The barrow is one of three long barrows within a single field, formally recorded together in NRHE 355624 and collectively known as Deadmen’s Graves. Two are surviving to some extent as earthworks; the upstanding remains of a long barrow 495m north of Mood Wood (NHLE 1013923) lie around 110m to the south-east. The site of the third, a long barrow 480m north-east of Valley House (NHLE 1017464) lies around 220m to the east-south-east; it was identified as a cropmark on aerial photographs and grouped with the others.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: The scheduled area is marked on the attached map and includes a 5m buffer zone around the barrow, which is considered necessary for the support and preservation of the monument. There are no exclusions from the scheduling.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

27864

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Field, D, Earthen Long Barrows, The Earliest Monuments in the British Isles, (2006)
Woodward, A, British Barrows A Matter of Life and Death, (2000)
Jones, D, Long Barrows and Neolithic Elongated Enclosures in Lincolnshire: An Analysis of the Air Photographic Evidence, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 64, (1998), 83-114

Websites
Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer, ‘Monument record MLI43620 – Deadmen’s Graves 1’, accessed 26 January 2024 from https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI43620

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