Round barrow 110m south west of Shunner Howe

List Entry Summary

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

Legacy System Information

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

Asset Groupings

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List entry Description

Summary of Monument

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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.

Excavations of round barrows in the region have shown that they demonstrate a very wide range of burial rites from simple scatters of cremated material to coffin inhumations and cremations contained in urns, typically dating to the Bronze Age. A common factor is that barrows were normally used for more than one burial and that the primary burial was frequently on or below the original ground surface, often with secondary burials located within the body of the mound. Modern excavations of barrows that were opened by 19th century antiquarians have shown that secondary and even primary burials frequently survive undisturbed. Most barrows include a small number of grave goods. These are often small pottery food vessels, but stone, bone, jet and bronze items have also occasionally been found.

The barrow 110m south west of Shunner Howe is a well preserved example of a small round barrow, its importance being enhanced by its proximity to the larger Shunner Howe. Excavation of similar mounds in the area suggests that the smaller mound will be earlier in date than Shunner Howe.

History

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Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a prehistoric burial mound 110m south west of the Shunner Howe barrow. The round barrow survives as a 9m diameter mound up to 1m high with evidence of a mainly infilled encircling ditch 2m wide. The mound has a small depression just to the south of its centre which is considered to be evidence of antiquarian excavation. The barrow is sited on the south west side of the hill top which is capped by the larger Shunner Howe round barrow.

Excavation of other barrows has shown that even where no encircling depression is discernible on the modern ground surface, ditches immediately around the outside of barrows frequently survive as infilled features, containing additional archaeological deposits.

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.

Selected Sources

National Grid Reference: SE 73594 99653

Map

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This copy shows the entry on 19-Jul-2018 at 08:38:45.