Lineover long barrow, 530m south west of Castle Barn Farm

Reasons for Designation

Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and, consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded nationally. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be nationally important.

Despite disturbance from early excavation and erosion from cultivation, the Lineover long barrow, 500m south west of Castle Barn Farm, will contain archaeological remains providing information about Neolithic beliefs, economy and environment.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow situated immediately below a crest on the north eastern edge of the Cotswolds, on level ground which falls sharply away to the north. The barrow mound, which is orientated east-west, has been reduced by cultivation. The western part survives as a slight rise, 0.3m high, in the ploughsoil but reaches a maximum height of 1.8m, at the eastern end. A circular depression in this end of the mound is probably the result of an unrecorded antiquarian excavation. Although no longer visible on the surface, side ditches will flank either side of the mound and will survive as buried features 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:

29789

Legacy System:

RSM

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