Ring cairn 296m south east of Riddon Brake

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, major 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. A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of stones up to 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small uprights or laid boulders. Ring cairns are found mainly in upland areas of England and are mostly discovered and authenticated by ground level fieldwork and survey, although a few are large enough to be visible on aerial photographs. They often occur in pairs or small groups of up to four examples. Occasionally they lie within round barrow cemeteries. Ring cairns are interpreted as ritual monuments of Early and Middle Bronze Age date. The exact nature of the rituals concerned is not fully understood, but excavation has revealed pits, some containing burials and others containing charcoal and pottery, taken to indicate feasting activities associated with the burial rituals. Many areas of upland have not yet been surveyed in detail and the number of ring cairns in England is not accurately known. However, available evidence indicates a population of between 250 and 500 examples. As a relatively rare class of monument exhibiting considerable variation in form, all positively identified examples retaining significant archaeological deposits are considered worthy of preservation.

The ring cairn 296m south east of Riddon Brake survives well and is unusually sited towards the bottom of a slope. The cairn lies on the edge of an area containing a wide variety of broadly contemporary archaeological sites and it therefore significantly contributes to our understanding of Bronze Age land control and ritual. The cairn will also contain important archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was built.

Details

The monument includes a ring cairn situated on a gentle south west facing slope overlooking the Walla Brook. The ring cairn survives as a 5.5m diameter flat topped circular mound standing up to 0.4m high. Around the southern edge of the mound are three edge set orthostats which represent the remains of a kerb which may survive elsewhere as a buried feature. A flat stone protruding through the turf within the southern part of the mound may represent a displaced cist coverstone.

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:

36054

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The Second Millennium B.C. in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, Vol. 5, (1997), 171

End of official list entry

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