Summary
A Bronze Age round barrow cemetery, comprising at least 8 barrows, and visible as low earthwork mounds and crop marks, all below alluvial deposits, including a further outlying barrow to the east at NGR: TA 3065 0060.
Reasons for Designation
The barrow cemetery and outlying barrow to the west of Tetney and north of the Waithe Beck, Lincolnshire are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: barrow cemeteries are sufficiently rare nationally that there is a presumption in favour of scheduling those that are relatively complete and that retain archaeological remains;
* Survival: as a group of barrows this site is highly likely to survive well below the alluvial deposits, modern ploughing having only affected the top of the mounds, and the site therefore compares favourably with other designated examples;
* Documentation: the understanding of the barrow group has been enhanced by the finds and archaeological investigations from the outlying barrow at TA 3065 0060 on Tetney Golf Course, including an Early Bronze Age axe and oak coffin, other burial remains related to the use of the area as a funerary site, which help to identify and characterise the monument in relation to the nearby cemetery;
* Diversity: the form of the individual barrows cannot be established without further investigation, but there are indications that the group of barrows are of various sizes representing a range of approaches to Bronze Age, and possibly earlier, funerary ritual;
* Potential: the stratified archaeological deposits retain considerable potential to provide invaluable evidence about the construction of the barrows, burial practices and social organisation at this time. There is also potential that land between and around the barrows, including the dry watercourse to the north, will provide additional information about related funerary practices, and later activity within this site, which is likely to be enhanced by preservation through burial within alluvial deposits.
History
The main period of round barrow construction occurred in the Early Bronze Age between about 2200-1500 BC (a period during which cremation succeeded inhumation as the primary burial rite), although Neolithic examples are known from as early as 3000 BC. In general, round barrows comprise a rounded earthen mound or stone cairn, the earthen examples usually having a surrounding ditch and occasionally an outer bank. They range greatly in size from just 5m in diameter to as much as 40m, with the mounds ranging from slight rises to as much as 4m in height. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Barrow cemeteries comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. Barrows can occur anywhere within the landscape and the land to the west of the village of Tetney and to the north of the Waithe Beck is part of the undulating alluvial gravel foothills of the Wolds as part of a dynamic landscape of former marshland and channels stretching inland from the modern Lincolnshire coast.
Aerial photographs taken in August 1993 as part pf the National Mapping Programme show a series of circular crop marks (centred on reference TA 3005 0069), which represent the earthworks of a round barrow cemetery of probable Bronze Age date (AMIE: 1064256). Other features to the east and north east (on Tetney Golf Course at TA 3065 006; TA 3061 0087 and TA 3058 0087), visible only as cropmarks on aerial photography from between 1947 and 1989, were identified as potential Bronze Age barrows (AMIE: 1064258; 1064257).
Groundworks to enlarge a pond on the golf course in August 2018 uncovered a waterlogged late Neolithic/ early Bronze Age timber coffin and associated human remains and artefacts. These remains and the immediate area were then the subject of archaeological investigations. The coffin, which was set into the underlying clay, was found to lie partly beneath a gravel mound which was in turn buried by alluvial deposits leaving only the upper part of the mound visible at surface as a slight rise. This gravel mound was partially removed by mechanical excavation to enlarge the modern pond, with the gravel reused in trackway construction. The tree trunk coffin was appears pulled up out of the underlying clay with the machine bucket revealing human remains and prompting the report of the discovery to the local authorities. Unfortunately, the mound had been damaged as a result of the groundworks. The excavation also recovered evidence of a second burial. The works were associated with the barrow feature identified in AMIE: 1064258, which was shown to be a standing mound of gravel overlain by alluvial deposits. The log coffin had been set into the underlying clay below the Bronze Age mound and predates it. The pond works were subsequently backfilled under professional archaeological supervision to avoid any further loss to the surviving parts of the barrow.
Following the recovery of the coffin, remains and artefacts, Historic England carried out a desk-based investigation of the existing photographic evidence and carried out further aerial photography including Structure for Motion photogrammetry to create three dimensional images from two dimensional image sequences. The accuracy of the existing mapping was enhanced and further detail added. Four of the barrows in the cemetery group (AMIE: 1064256) were visible as earthworks in 1947 and two of these were seen to have encircling external ditches on photography from 1996. They were still visible as low earthwork mounds on the 2018 photography. A number of other possible barrows in the field appear on the photography, principally to the west of the main group. A watercourse was observed and plotted from 1947 vertical photographs and its proximity to the golf course barrows may suggest the barrows were sited in relation to a landscape of clay and gravel banks forming areas of solid ground dissected by open channels and marshlands. The watercourse, visible as a dry stream bed in 1947, has since been filled in. A further scatter of four round potential barrows was recorded to the west of the golf course area (TA 2965 0100; TA 2966 0096; TA 2965 0087; TA 2947 0082). These features had not previously been recorded and are not included in this scheduling.
Details
Bronze Age round barrow cemetery visible as low earthwork mounds and crop marks, all below alluvial deposits.
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a barrow cemetery and one outlying barrow to the east. It is located on the alluvial gravel foothills of the Wolds close to the marshy banks of the Lincolnshire coast.
DESCRIPTION: the barrow cemetery comprises a group of eight barrows laid out on an approximate NE-SW alignment, with further barrows visible on aerial photography. The barrows range from 10m to 15m in diameter, and the upper part of some of the mounds have been ploughed although they are considered to survive below the alluvial clay. Barrows at TA 3005 0069, TA 3013 0069, TA 3007 0072, TA 3005 0065, TA 3009 0068, TA 3014 0059, TA 3018 0065 and TA 3000 0065 are visible as cropmarks.
To the west, in the golf course, is the Bronze Age round barrow centred at TA 3065 0062, which was part-excavated in 2018 after the wooden coffin was found. It is 10m in diameter and no evidence of a ring ditch was found. Approximately half of the mound was excavated and removed.
EXCLUSIONS: all structures related to the modern agricultural and leisure uses of the sites, and a telegraph pole, are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath them is included.
