Iron Age barrow 400m south east of Station Farm

Reasons for Designation

Square barrows are funerary monuments of the Middle Iron Age, mostly dating from the period between c.500 BC and c.50 BC. The majority of these monuments are found between the River Humber and the southern slopes of the North Yorkshire Moors, but a wider distribution has also been identified, principally through aerial photography, spreading through the river valleys of the Midlands and south Essex. Around 200 square barrow cemeteries have been recorded; in addition, a further 250 sites consisting of single barrows or small groups of barrows have been identified. Square barrows were constructed as earthen mounds surrounded by a ditch and covering one or more bodies. Slight banks around the outer edge of the ditch have been noted in some examples. Despite the term `square', barrows can vary in shape. The majority are truly square, although many have rounded corners and some are more rectangular in plan. A few, however, occurring both in square barrow cemeteries and individually, are actually round in plan, but distinguishable from earlier Bronze Age round barrows by their smaller size. The main burial is normally central and carefully placed in a rectangular or oval grave pit, although burials placed on the ground surface below the mound are also known. A number of different types of burials have been identified, accompanied by grave goods which vary greatly in range and type. The most elaborate include the dismantled parts of a two-wheeled vehicle placed in the grave with the body of the deceased. Some Iron Age barrows have been associated with an unusual burial ritual of `spearing the corpse'. Ploughing and intensive land use since prehistoric times have eroded and levelled most square barrows and very few remain as upstanding monuments, although the ditches and the grave pits, with their contents, will survive beneath the ground surface. The different forms of burial and the variations in the type and range of artefacts placed in the graves provide important information on the beliefs, social organisation and material culture of these Iron Age communities and their development over time. All examples of square barrows which survive as upstanding earthworks, and a significant proportion of the remainder, are considered of national importance and worthy of protection.

The monument survives in fair condition, and represents one of the few surviving individual Iron Age round barrows in this area. Round Iron Age barrows are a rarer variant of the more common square barrow form. It is thought to be related to the larger cemetery of Iron Age square barrows at Scorborough.

Details

The monument includes a round Iron Age barrow 400m south east of Station Farm. The barrow includes a central flat topped mound which survives up to 1m in height and 8m in diameter and is surrounded by a shallow ring ditch around 2m in width. The size and shape of the barrow mound and its proximity to the Iron Age square barrows in the cemetery at Scorborough have led to its interpretation as one of the rarer forms of round Iron Age barrows, a monument class which is more commonly square or rectangular.

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:

26596

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Stead, I M, Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire, (1991), 7-9;17
Stead, I M, East Riding Archaeologist in La Tene Cemetery At Scorborough, East Riding, Vol. 11, (1975), 1-11

End of official list entry

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