Cairn, 600m north east of Stanage House

Reasons for Designation

The East Moors in Derbyshire includes all the gritstone moors east of the River Derwent. It covers an area of 105 sq km, of which around 63% is open moorland and 37% is enclosed. As a result of recent and on-going archaeological survey, the East Moors area is becoming one of the best recorded upland areas in England. On the enclosed land the archaeological remains are fragmentary, but survive sufficiently well to show that early human activity extended beyond the confines of the open moors. On the open moors there is significant and well-articulated evidence over extensive areas for human exploitation of the gritstone uplands from the Neolithic to the post-medieval periods. Bronze Age activity accounts for the most intensive use of the moorlands. Evidence for it includes some of the largest and best preserved field systems and cairnfields in northern England as well settlement sites, numerous burial monuments, stone circles and other ceremonial remains which, together, provide a detailed insight into life in the Bronze Age. Also of importance is the well preserved and often visible relationship between the remains of earlier and later periods since this provides an insight into successive changes in land use through time. A large number of the prehistoric sites on the moors, because of their rarity in a national context, excellent state of preservation and inter-connections, will be identified as nationally important.

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2,000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. These burial may be placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are the stone equivalents of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. The cairn 600m north east of Stanage House although robbed of some stone is likely to still retain undisturbed buried remains. It is particularly important as a funerary cairn containing a cup-marked stone as part of its structure: such monuments are rare nationally.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a large cairn located to the south west of a small escarpment on Eyam Moor. Its relatively isolated position, size and complexity indicate that it was a prehistoric funerary structure of some importance to the local region. The cairn also incorporates a cup marked stone within its internal structure. The cairn measures 18m by 15m and stands approximately 0.8m high. The centre of the cairn has been disturbed where a large quantity of the inner stonework has been removed, although much of its outer structure remains, especially on the south side, where part of the top of the monument still survives intact. The shape of the surviving parts of the cairn indicate that it was of the flat-topped variety of which only a few survive in the local area. Where exposed, the cairn appears to have a gritstone kerb. Despite previous disturbance to the cairn, buried remains are likely to survive intact. On the northern side of the disturbed area of the cairn is a cup marked stone of some complexity. The carved boulder stands upright and is earthfast and bears a multiplicity of small carvings similar to a small number of other carvings found in the local area and elsewhere. The monument is interpreted as a funerary cairn dating to the Bronze Age and is associated with contemporary evidence for settlement and agriculture elsewhere in the immediate vicinity.

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:

31241

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal in Bronze Age Remains on the East Moors of the Peak District, Vol. 106, (1986)

Other
Barnatt, J. W., Peak District Barrow Survey, 1989, unpublished survey archive

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