Ring cairn on West Ayton Moor, 900m south west of Cockrah House

Reasons for Designation

A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of stones up to 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small uprights or laid boulders. Ring cairns are found mainly in upland areas of England and are mostly discovered and authenticated by fieldwork and ground level survey, although a few are large enough to be visible on aerial photographs. They often occur in pairs or small groups of up to four examples. Occasionally they lie within round barrow cemeteries. Ring cairns are interpreted as ritual monuments of Early and Middle Bronze Age date. The exact nature of the rituals concerned is not fully understood, but excavation has revealed pits, some containing burials and others containing charcoal and pottery, taken to indicate feasting activities associated with the burial rituals. Many areas of upland have not yet been surveyed in detail and the number of ring cairns in England is not accurately known. However, available evidence indicates a population of between 250 and 500 examples. As a relatively rare class of monument exhibiting considerable variation in form, all positively identified examples retaining significant archaeological deposits are considered worthy of preservation.

The Tabular Hills in the Wykeham Forest area contain a dense concentration of prehistoric monuments, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, which includes field systems, enclosures and land boundaries as well as both round and square barrows. The spatial and chronological relationships between the round and square barrows in this area, and between both types of barrow and other prehistoric monuments, are of considerable importance for understanding the development of later prehistoric society in eastern Yorkshire. Despite disturbance, the ring cairn 900m south west of Cockrah House retains archaeological deposits which will contain information about its original form and use.

Details

The monument includes a ring cairn situated on level ground towards the northern edge of the Tabular Hills. Originally the ring cairn had a ring bank enclosing an area of about 10m. A large part of this is no longer visible as an earthwork, having been levelled by forestry ploughing, but the south western quarter survives as a curving bank of earth and stones, measuring 3m across and standing up to 0.3m high. Traces also survive in the south east and north west sectors. The ring cairn lies within a dense concentration of prehistoric burial monuments in an area which also includes the remains of prehistoric settlement and land division.

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:

33732

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Lee, G E, Wykeham Archaeological Survey, (1991)

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 2nd Edition 25" sheet 77/13 Source Date: 1928 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

End of official list entry

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