Bowl barrow 120m north west of Cissbury

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.

The bowl barrow 120m north west of Cissbury survives well, despite some subsequent disturbance, and will retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the construction and use of the monument. Its association with other broadly contemporary monuments, including the later Iron Age hillfort at Cissbury Ring, will provide evidence for changes in the social organisation of this area of downland during the prehistoric period.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on gently sloping ground at the foot of a chalk spur which forms part of the Sussex Downs. The barrow has a roughly circular mound, up to 12m in diameter and 0.9m high. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material used to construct the barrow was excavated. Construction of a track has destroyed the eastern edge of the barrow mound and the eastern section of the ditch, and this area is therefore not included in the scheduling. Elsewhere, the ditch will survive as a now infilled buried feature up to around 2m wide. A Bronze Age pottery vessel is recorded as having been found in the barrow, probably during construction of the track. The modern fence which crosses the eastern edge of the monument is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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:

32242

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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