Summary
Neolithic long barrow surviving as a low earthwork, three Bronze Age bowl barrows and a ditched enclosure surviving as cropmarks and soilmarks.
Reasons for Designation
The Neolithic long barrow, three Bronze Age round barrows and enclosure 600m and 785m east of Poke Holes Cottages are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: the long barrow survives as a low earthwork. The three bowl barrows and the enclosure have been confirmed to survive as buried remains through aerial photography;
* Potential: for the buried archaeological deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals. Buried environmental evidence can also inform us about the landscape in which the barrows were constructed;
* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, it is highly representative of the period;
* Rarity: long barrows are rare nationally, and barrows are one of very few monument types to offer us insights into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country;
* Group value: as one of a number of similar monuments associated with the valley of the River Bain and with the Bluestone Heath Road which is thought to have originated as a prehistoric trackway. The frequency of these monuments has wider implications for the study of Neolithic demography and settlement patterns in the region. The nearest spatially related scheduled monuments are the Neolithic long barrow approximately 1km to the south (NHLE 1013908) and another 1.2km to the south (NHLE 1015772).
History
Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monument, constructed from before 3800 BC with new monuments continuing to be built throughout the 4th millennium BC. Where they are precisely dated it appears their primary use for burial rarely lasted longer than about 100 years. Generally comprising long, linear earthen mounds or stone cairns, often flanked by ditches, they can appear as distinctive features in the landscape. They measure up to about 100m in length, 35m in width and 4m in height, and are sometimes trapezoidal or oval in plan. Earthen long barrows are found mostly in southern and eastern England and are usually unchambered, although some examples have been found to contain timber mortuary structures. Regional variation in construction is generally a reflection of locally available resources. Megalithic or stone ,chambered tombs are most common in Scotland and Wales, but are also found in those parts of England with ready access to the large stones and boulders from which they are constructed, especially the Cotswolds, the South-West and Kent. There are around 540 long barrows recorded nationally.
Long barrows of the Lincolnshire Wolds have been identified as a distinct regional grouping of monuments in which the flanking ditches are continued around the ends of the barrow mound, either continuously or broken by a single causeway towards one end. A small number survive as earthworks but the majority are known from cropmarks (an area of enhanced crop growth caused by higher moisture levels retained by the fills of underlying archaeological features) and soil marks where no or very low mounds are evident on the surface. Not all Lincolnshire long barrows had mounds and our current understanding of Neolithic mortuary practices in this part of the country is that the large barrow mound was in fact the final phase of construction which was not reached by all monuments. Previously many of the sites where only the ditched enclosure is known have been interpreted as a barrow where the mound has been degraded or removed by subsequent agricultural activity. In some cases the ditched enclosure (mortuary enclosure) represents a monument which never developed a mound.
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 historical element in the modern landscape, and their considerable variation in 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.
The long barrow and three round barrows were first scheduled in 1999. The internal mound is partly visible as a compacted surface on air photographs, but is also visible as a low spread earthwork on digital elevation models and from the Structure from Motion of 2016 specialist oblique photography.
Details
Principal elements: the monument includes the buried remains of a Neolithic long barrow, three Bronze Age bowl barrows and a ditched enclosure some 600m and 785m east of Poke Holes Cottages on the north-facing slope of a valley above a tributary of the River Bain. The monument is situated slightly below the valley top at 104m AOD.
The long barrow, the two northern bowl barrows and the enclosure, together with the intervening ground, which will contain associated archaeological remains, are scheduled together in one area of protection, whilst the southern bowl barrow is protected separately.
Description: although the site is not visible on the ground, the infilled and buried ditches surrounding the barrows and the enclosure are clearly visible from the air and have been recorded on aerial photographs since 1976 as a series of cropmarks - areas of enhanced crop growth resulting from higher levels of moisture retained by the underlying archaeological features.
The Neolithic long barrow is visible as cropmarks and soilmarks on air photographs and as earthworks on digital elevation models, centred at TF 2577 8808. The barrow is defined by an elongated rectilinear ditched enclosure, orientated north-west by south-east and with maximum dimensions measuring 57.5m by 30m. The ditch is open at the northern end and shows signs of short internal spurs on its eastern and western sides, giving the southern end a rounded appearance. It is thought that these spurs may be the remnants of an earlier terminal ditch and that the present southern end is an extension made during a later phase. Long barrows with open ended ditches are comparatively unusual on the Lincolnshire Wolds, and it is thought that they represent the earliest stages of long barrow construction and use or maybe indicative of abandonment before completion. The north-western end has been truncated by a post medieval chalk pit. Three possible pits are visible within the long barrow enclosure, with a further two outside, all of which may be associated with the barrow. The internal mound is partly visible as a compacted surface on air photographs, but is also visible as a low spread earthwork on digital elevation models derived from 2m gridded height data and from the Structure from Motion of 2016 specialist oblique photography. The ploughed down mound has a broader footprint than the ditched enclosure.
Although the ditched enclosure cannot be dated, its location suggests a spatial relationship with the barrows. Its chronological relationship may be revealed by artefactual evidence from the interior, from the fills of its buried ditches and from the surrounding area. The proximity of the Bronze Age barrows to that of the earlier Neolithic long barrow suggests the location had enduring ritual significance.
The remains of two round barrows lie about 100m to the north-west of the long barrow. The barrow mounds have been reduced by ploughing but their ditches, from which material for the mounds would have been quarried, survive beneath the present ground surface. Each barrow has a diameter of about 25m, and they lie some 15m apart. The ground between these two bowl barrows and the long barrow contains the remains of a rectangular ditched double enclosure measuring 70m by 39m overall with the long sides running north-east to south-west. The eastern half of the southern boundary ditch is incomplete. The relationship of this enclosure to the barrows is not yet understood, but archaeological investigations of a similar cropmark site elsewhere in the region revealed evidence of an enclosure which was thought to be contemporary with the earliest phases of construction. It is possible, therefore, that such enclosures provided temporary accommodation for the barrow builders and their equipment.
A further bowl barrow lies about 150m to the south-east of the long barrow in a separate area of protection. As with the northern round barrows, the mound has been reduced by ploughing. The quarry ditch measures approximately 20m in diameter, and a small, central cropmark indicates the position of the primary burial. The parish boundary runs adjacent to the site of this barrow, suggesting that it may have served as a marker, and the reduction of the mound may, therefore, be of a relatively recent date.
The fills of all the ditches will contain rare and valuable artefactual and organic evidence, including human remains, relating to the construction, dating, periods of use and religious beliefs of the barrow builders. Environmental deposits preserved in the same features may illustrate the nature of the landscape in which the monument was set.
The long barrow is one of a group focussed on the prehistoric trackway now known as the Bluestone Heath Road, and on the valley of the River Bain. Comparative evidence from all these barrows may have considerable significance for the study of communications, settlement and demography during the prehistoric period.
A long barrow (NHLE 1015772) lies 1.2km to the south, and another (NHLE 1013908) approximately 1km to the south.
Extent of Scheduling: the site of the monument includes a 5m boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
