Reasons for Designation
Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection. Despite some reduction by ploughing, the bowl barrow 600m south east of East
Field Farm survives as an upstanding earthwork and will contain archaeological
and environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the landscape in which
it was constructed.
Details
The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a west-facing slope
overlooking the Bere Valley. The barrow forms part of a wider group of five
which together form a round barrow cemetery.
The barrow has a mound composed of earth, flint and chalk with maximum
dimensions of 23m in diameter and c.0.45m in height. This is surrounded by a
ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the
monument. The ditch has become infilled over the years, but is known from
aerial photographic evidence to survive as a buried feature c.2m wide. 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:
28352
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 473
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
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