Round barrow on Scawton Moor, 620m north west 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.

The majority of round barrows in the region were dug into by 19th century antiquarians in search of burials and artifacts, leaving behind a central depression as evidence of their work. However excavations in the latter half of the 20th century have shown that round barrows typically contain archaeological information that survives earlier digging. Secondary burials tend to be located within the main body of the mound and sometimes one of these was mistaken for the primary burial which was usually the goal of the antiquarian. Even when the primary burial has been excavated, further secondary burials often survive in the undisturbed surrounding part of the mound and infilled ditch. Additional valuable information about the mound's construction and the local environment at the time of its construction will also survive antiquarian excavation. The round barrow on Scawton Moor, 620m north west of High Lodge is one of a extensive group of relatively well preserved round barrows on Scawton Moor which together will retain important information about Bronze Age society in the area.

Details

The monument includes earthwork and associated buried remains of a prehistoric burial mound located at the southern, uphill end of Bungdale Head Rigg, 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. With the removal of intervening trees, the monument would be intervisible with the two round barrows 0.5km to the ESE, but not with the two barrows 0.6km to the south west. It is sited on gently sloping ground facing north, overlooking the head of Bungdale Head Slack just to the east. From a surface inspection the round barrow appears to be mainly of earthen construction with some small stones no more than cobble sized. It survives as a mound 10m in diameter up to 0.5m high with a central oval depression up to 4m by 3m which in part is 0.5m deep. This depression is thought to be the result of an unrecorded antiquarian excavation. Excavation of other examples of round barrows in the region have shown that even where no encircling depression is discernible on the modern ground surface, ditches immediately around the outside of the mound frequently survive as infilled features, containing additional archaeological deposits. A margin to allow for such an infilled ditch up to 2m wide is thus also included within the monument.

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:

32679

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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