Round barrow 200m west of Airy Hill Farm

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.

Despite limited disturbance, the barrow 200m west of Airy Hill Farm survives well. Significant information about the original form of the barrow and the burials placed within it will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use will also survive beneath the barrow mound. Prehistoric rock art is found on natural rock outcrops in many areas of upland Britain. It is especially common in the north of England in Northumberland, Durham and North and West Yorkshire. The most common form of decoration is the `cup and ring' marking, where expanses of small cup-like hollows are pecked into the surface of the rock. These cups may be surrounded by one or more `rings'. Single pecked lines extending from the cup through the rings may also exist, providing the design with a `tail'. Pecked lines or grooves can also exist in isolation from cup and ring decoration. Other shapes and patterns also occur, but are less frequent. Carvings may occur singly, in small groups, or may cover extensive areas of rock surface. They date to the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods (c.2800-500 BC) and provide one of our most important insights into prehistoric `art'. The exact meaning of the designs remains unknown, but they may be interpreted as sacred or religious symbols. Frequently they are found close to contemporary burial monuments and the symbols are also found on portable stones placed directly next to burials or incorporated into burial mounds. Around 800 examples of prehistoric rock art have been recorded in England. This is unlikely to be a realistic reflection of the number carved in prehistory. Many will have been overgrown or destroyed in activities such as quarrying. All positively identified prehistoric rock art sites exhibiting a significant group of designs normally will be identified as nationally important. The barrow is one of several which include decorated cup marked stones, distributed along the northern and eastern periphery of the North York Moors. As such it can be dated to the last part of the Neolithic period or Early Bronze Age, earlier than many similar barrows found on the central moorland.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated in a prominent hilltop position at the northern limit of the North York Moors. The barrow has a flat topped earth and stone mound standing 0.6m high. It is round in shape and 12.5m in diameter. Records show that it was originally surrounded by a kerb of stones which defined the barrow and supported the mound, one of which was decorated with six cup marks. However, none of these stones are now visible, having been taken away or buried by soil slipping from the mound. In the centre of the mound there is a slight hollow caused by excavations in the past. The south edge of the mound is clipped by a fence and hedge line and to the south of the hedge the mound has been totally removed by ploughing. There is an Ordnance Survey trigonometrical point at the south west corner of the mound. The barrow was originally one of at least two, with the second, 200m to the west, now being ploughed out. It lies on the edge of an area rich in prehistoric monuments, including further barrows, field systems and clearance cairns. The fence line across the southern edge of the mound is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31992

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Crawford, G M, Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland, (1980)
Smith, M J B, Excavated Bronze Age Burial Mounds of Durham and N' land., (1994)
Spratt, D A, Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, Vol. 87, (1993)

End of official list entry

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