Starfits round barrow, 450m north east of Starfits House

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.

Starfits round barrow is a typical example of a ploughed North Yorkshire bowl barrow. Excavations at other similar sites have demonstrated that significant archaeological information typically survives, even where the earthworks are continuously ploughed. Where earthwork mounds can still be identified, the prehistoric ground surface tends to be below the plough horizon, meaning the primary burials will be undisturbed by modern agriculture. Additionally, any encircling ditch will survive as an infilled feature.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork remains of a prehistoric barrow located immediately to the west of the wooded gully, Robin Hood's Howl. Shown as an oval standing earthwork on the first edition Ordnance Survey 25in map (1853), the barrow has been identified as the example opened at `The Hag' by Rev W Eastman. Eastman, in his Historia Rievallensis (1824), reported finding a large quantity of burnt bone together with an urn. A barrow in the area was also investigated in c.1850 by Thomas Kendall of Pickering who found calcined (burnt) bones and broken urns. The monument survives within a field as a low stony mound c.25m in diameter and c.0.5m high. Excavations of round barrows in the region have shown that they demonstrate a very wide range of burial rites, from simple scatters of cremated material to coffin inhumations and cremations contained in urns. A common factor is that barrows were normally used for more than one burial, and that the primary burial was frequently below the original ground surface or, if not, was located on the ground surface rather than in the body of the mound. Most barrows include a small number of grave goods. These are often small pottery food vessels, but stone, bone, jet and bronze items have also occasionally been found. Shallow ditches and/or stone kerbs immediately encircling the mounds are also quite common.

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:

30102

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Eastman, Reverend W, Historia Rievallensis, (1824), 479

End of official list entry

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