Bowl barrow 870m ESE of New Barn on Monkton Down

Reasons for Designation

A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods. Two of the best known and earliest recognised, with references in the 17th century, are around Avebury and Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site. In the Avebury area, the henge monument itself, the West Kennet Avenue, the Sanctuary, West Kennet long barrow, Windmill Hill causewayed enclosure and the enigmatic Silbury Hill are well-known. Whilst the other Neolithic long barrows, the many Bronze Age round barrows and other associated sites are less well-known, together they define one of the richest and most varied areas of Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial monuments in the country. 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, normally 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 and around 320 in the Avebury area. This group of monuments will provide important information on the development of this area during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. All surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The bowl barrow 870m ESE of New Barn survives as a good example of a small round barrow. Despite having been partly excavated, the barrow will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction and the landscape in which it was built.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located 870m ESE of New Barn on Monkton Down and immediately north of a linear earthwork which has been interpreted as being of Bronze Age date. The barrow survives as an earthwork mound 9.1m across and up to 0.4m high surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was obtained during its construction. This has become largely infilled over the years but survives as an earthwork c.1m wide and up to 0.2m deep. The barrow was partly excavated by Merewether in 1849 and found to contain a primary cremation burial. Late Bronze Age and Romano-British pottery sherds were found on the surface of the mound and further finds of pottery were made after ploughing in 1978.

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:

21742

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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