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.
Details
The monument includes the buried remains of a long barrow 410m south east of
Partridge Hall Farm. Although the mound of the barrow has been reduced
by ploughing and is no longer visible above ground, buried deposits survive.
The encircling ditch, from which earth was dug in the construction of the
mound, and the central burial area are visible on aerial photographs as
cropmarks (areas of enhanced growth resulting from higher levels of moisture
retained by the underlying archaeological features). The barrow is aligned
east-west and measures approximately 66m long and 30m wide.
The long barrow lies on a low chalk rise and is part of an extensive spread of
prehistoric barrows across the chalk uplands of north Hertfordshire and south
Cambridgeshire.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
33382
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
