Round barrow on Scawton Moor, 700m ENE of High Lodge

Reasons for Designation

Round barrows 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 mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus of 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 examples recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of Britain, including the Wessex area where it is often possible to classify them more closely, for example as bowl or bell barrows. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic 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.

Although the round barrow on Scawton Moor, 700 ENE of High Lodge, no longer retains upstanding earthwork remains, it is still considered to retain buried deposits. The plough soil will also retain material from the original covering mound.

Details

The monument includes the buried remains of a prehistoric burial mound located at the southern, uphill end of Sturdy Rigg on Scawton Moor, overlooking the confluence of Nettle Dale and Rye Dale to the north. The monument is one of a group of round barrows scattered for 3.5km along the north side of the watershed to the south of Rye Dale. The other surviving round barrows of this group are the subject of separate schedulings. The monument is located on level ground and its site is intervisible with the two barrows on Claythwaite Rigg 500m and 600m WNW. In 1947 it was described as being 50ft (15m) in diameter and 4ft (1.2m) high with a ditch. Subsequently the area has been regularly ploughed and the barrow has been spread so that no upstanding mound can now be identified. However, excavation of other similar sites has shown that archaeological remains can survive undisturbed under the plough soil. The primary burial of a round barrow was typically placed in a pit cut into the original ground surface before the construction of the covering mound and secondary burials have also been found in pits cut into the ditches encircling barrows.

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:

32682

Legacy System:

RSM

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