Bowl barrow 300m south of Skyborry

Overview

Location

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.

The bowl barrow 300m south of Skyborry is a well-preserved example of this class of monument. The barrow mound will retain evidence for its method of construction as well as the burial or burials within it. These remains will advance our understanding of Bronze Age society, including the ritual practices and technical abilities of the people who constructed the barrow. The accumulated ditch fills will preserve environmental evidence for activities which took place at the site during the construction of the barrow, and its subsequent use. In addition, the buried ground surface beneath the mound will preserve evidence for the prehistoric landscape in which the barrow was built.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow situated on level ground within the flood plain of the River Teme. Other similar monuments were built within the valley, either close to the river or on the valley sides, however the majority of those built in the flood plain have been severely damaged by ploughing or have been eroded by the river. The barrow has an oval mound measuring 19m north-south and 15m east-west. This was orginally circular with a diameter of about 15m. It survives to a height of 1.2m and is composed of earth and riverine gravels. Partly embedded in the top of the mound are the remains of a cist (a stone slab coffin), which measures 1.5m by 1m. All four sides of the cist survive but the covering slab has been removed. The height of the cist within the mound would suggest that it was not for the primary burial, but a later insertion. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the barrow, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature approximately 3m 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:

32287

Legacy System:

RSM

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.