Reasons for Designation
Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of
long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded
nationally. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as
earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and
their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be
nationally important.
Despite limited disturbance, the long barrow 630m north west of Scamridge
Farm has survived well. Significant information about the original form of
the barrow, the burials placed within it and the rituals associated with
its use will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use and the
contemporary environment will also survive beneath the barrow mound and
within the buried ditches.
The barrow is one of at least four long barrows in this area which are
situated within less than 1km of each other. This is a much greater
concentration than anywhere else on the North York Moors and Tabular Hills
and provides valuable insight into Neolithic ritual and funerary activity.
The area also has many other prehistoric burial monuments, dating from the
Bronze Age and Iron Age, as well as a complex network of prehistoric land
boundaries. The relationships between these monuments and the Neolithic
long barrows are important for understanding the development and use of
the landscape for different purposes during the prehistoric period.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow which is situated on a gentle south
east facing slope on the southern dip slopes of the Tabular Hills.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound which is 46m long and is oriented
east to west. Formerly, the width of the mound tapered from 17m at the
eastern end to 14m at the western end, but ploughing has truncated the
mound edges, especially on the northern side, so that now it measures 15m
at the eastern end and 11m at the western end. The mound stands up to 1.5m
high at both ends, although it would have been higher at the eastern end
when it was built. Part excavation by Canon Greenwell in the 19th century
has left the surface of the mound irregular with shallow depressions. His
investigations uncovered the disarticulated remains of 14 individuals. The
line of an old field boundary, which marked the division between the
parishes of Allerston and Ebberston and Yedingham, is visible running
across the western side of the mound in a north to south direction. The
mound was constructed with material from flanking quarry ditches, which
would have been up to 5m wide. However, these have become filled in over
the years by soil slipping from the mound so that they are no longer
visible as earthworks. Originally there would have been a forecourt area
in front of the eastern, higher end of the mound, where rituals relating
to the use of the monument would have taken place. Traces of these
activities will survive below the ground surface as pits, post-holes or
hearths, although nothing is visible above the ground.
The barrow lies in an area where there is a concentration of Neolithic
monuments, including further long barrows, which is surrounded by many
other prehistoric burial monuments and a network of prehistoric land
boundaries.
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.
