Two round barrows on Patterson's Bank

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 two barrows on Patterson's Bank survive well. Significant information about their original form and the burials placed within them will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use will also survive beneath the barrow mounds. 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 (2800-c.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 larger barrow to the south west is one of several distributed along the northern and eastern periphery of the North York Moors which include decorated cup-marked stones. As such it can be dated to the last part of the Neolithic period or the Early Bronze Age, earlier than many similar barrows on the central moorland.

Details

The monument includes two round barrows on Patterson's Bank which are in two separate areas of protection. The barrows are adjacent, one lying to the north east of the other. The larger of the two is to the south west and has an earth and stone mound 17m in diameter and standing up to 1.8m high. It was originally surrounded by a kerb of stones which defined the barrow and supported the mound, two of which were decorated with cup marks. Some of the kerb stones are visible at the base of the mound in the south west and one in the east, but the remainder have been either taken away or buried by soil slipping from the mound. One cup marked stone is visible on the east side of the monument but it has slipped from its original position down the slope into a small quarry which clips the edge of the barrow. There is a hollow in the centre caused by the removal of an Ordnance Survey triangulation point. The smaller barrow lies 50m to the north east. It has a mound which is 11m in diameter and stands up to 1.5m high. In the centre there is a hollow caused by excavations in the past. To the south east of the two mounds there is a fence and an adjacent wall which are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

32005

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Crawford, G M, Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland, (1980)
Spratt, D A, Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, Vol. 87, (1993)

Other
Rowe, P, 0571, (1994)
Rowe, P N, 0539, (1994)

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