Round cairn 580m south of Horn's Cross forming part of a cairn cemetery on Holne Ridge

Overview

Location

Reasons for Designation

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in southern Britain and, because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Cairnfields are concentrations of three or more cairns sited within close proximity to one another; they may consist of burial cairns or cairns built with stone cleared from the land surface (clearance cairns). Round funerary cairns were constructed during the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) and consisted of earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. The considerable variation in the size of cairnfields and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite an early undocumented investigation, the round cairn 580m south of Horn's Cross forming part of a cairn cemetery on Holne Ridge survives well and contains important archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was built. This cairn forms part of a group of visually impressive cairns situated on high ground overlooking the largest and best preserved Bronze Age coaxial field system on the Moor.

Details

The monument includes a round cairn forming an outlying part of a cairn cemetery or cairnfield situated on a gentle north facing slope of Holne Ridge overlooking the valley of River Dart. The cairn survives as a 7.6m diameter mound standing up to 1m high. A trench leading across the cairn from north west to south east represents the site of a partial undocumented investigation. At the south eastern end of this trench is a large slab which may have been part of a cist.

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:

28768

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
RCHME, , Holne Moor Survey carried out for DNPA, (1966)

Legal

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.