Summary
Two Neolithic long barrows defined by crop marks and soil marks centred at TF 3757 7720 and TF 3761 7722.
Reasons for Designation
The long barrow, truncated long barrow and associated features west of White Pit are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: as the buried remains of two long barrows and associated features, which have been confirmed to survive from geophysical survey and are visible as clearly defined crop marks on aerial photography;
* Potential: for the buried archaeological and environmental deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, burial rituals and the contemporary landscape. The finding of Neolithic stone axes in the vicinity further suggests the area's archaeological potential, indicating activity and possibly settlement in the surrounding landscape;
* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, both barrows are highly representative of the period;
* Rarity: long barrows are rare nationally and both barrows are one of very few monument types to offer us insights into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country.
History
Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monuments, constructed from before 3800 BC with new monuments continuing to be built throughout the 4th millennium BC. Where they are precisely dated it appears their primary use for burial rarely lasted longer than about 100 years. Generally comprising long, linear earthen mounds or stone cairns, often flanked by ditches, they can appear as distinctive features in the landscape. They measure up to about 100m in length, 35m in width and 4m in height, and are sometimes trapezoidal or oval in plan. Earthen long barrows are found mostly in southern and eastern England and are usually unchambered, although some examples have been found to contain timber mortuary structures. Regional variation in construction is generally a reflection of locally available resources. Megalithic or stone-chambered tombs are most common in Scotland and Wales but are also found in those parts of England with ready access to the large stones and boulders from which they are constructed, especially the Cotswolds, the south-west and Kent. There are around 540 long barrows recorded nationally.
Long barrows of the Lincolnshire Wolds have been identified as a distinct regional grouping of monuments in which the flanking ditches are continued around the ends of the barrow mound, either continuously or broken by a single causeway towards one end. A small number survive as earthworks, but the majority are known from crop marks and soil marks where no or very low mounds are evident on the surface. Not all Lincolnshire long barrows had mounds and our current understanding of Neolithic mortuary practices in this part of the country is that the large barrow mound was in fact the final phase of construction which was not reached by all monuments. Previously many of the sites where only the ditched enclosure is known have been interpreted as a barrow where the mound has been degraded or removed by subsequent agricultural activity. In some cases, the ditched enclosure (mortuary enclosure) represents a monument which never developed a mound.
Both long barrows west of White Pit are known from cropmark evidence recorded as part of the National Mapping Programme, with later aerial photography evidence acquired in 2003. Aerial photographic assessment carried out as part of the Lincolnshire Long Barrows project confirmed the survival of both barrows, and a geophysical survey, carried out by Heritage Lincolnshire in 2018, has further confirmed the below ground survival of both barrows.
Details
Principal elements: The two Neolithic long barrows defined by crop marks and soil marks are located close to the crest of a hill, on its south-facing slope, approximately 135m and 210m west of White Pit Cottage, over an un-named brook that runs into Calceby Beck to the east. The site is located approximately 60m AOD.
Description: There are two associated Neolithic long barrows located at TF 3757 7720 and TF 3761 7722, both visible as crop marks on aerial photography.
The long barrow at TF 3757 7720, the southernmost of the two, is encompassed by an oval, ditched enclosure. It measures approximately 60m in length and 18m in width, orientated from the north-west to the south-east. Near the barrow’s south-west corner lies a large pit, potentially part of the monument, which forms a rectangular enclosure with convex ends, and which is included in the scheduling.
The smaller of the two long barrows lies approximately 25m to the north-east. It has been defined through crop marks visible on aerial photographs. A geophysical survey has further confirmed its survival. The detail of the enclosure ditch around this smaller barrow is less clear than its partner. The enclosure ditch has several nodes of irregularly spaced features which are likely to have been caused by discrete pits dug within or to define the long barrow. Overall, the long barrow is rectangular in shape, orientated north-west to south-east with rounded terminals, and measuring 25m long and 18m wide. The ditch is approximately 3m wide and the pit-like anomalies are approximately 3.5m across.
Valuable archaeological deposits will be preserved in the fills of the ditches and pits. These will provide rare information concerning the dating and construction of the monuments and the sequence of mortuary practices at the site. The same deposits may also retain environmental evidence illustrating the nature of the contemporary landscape in which the monuments were set. In the areas between and around barrows, where excavation has taken place, it has demonstrated the presence of burials and the survival of other mortuary structures such as pyres. The close association of the two barrows demonstrates the ritual significance of the location in the Neolithic period and has wider implications for the study of demography and settlement patterns during the Neolithic period. Two Neolithic stone axes were found approximately 700m-900m down the valley slope providing further evidence of Neolithic activity in the vicinity of the long barrows.
Extent of Scheduling: The scheduled area includes the buried remains of the two long barrows as well as the pit at the south-west corner of the larger barrow. The scheduling also includes the area between these features, and a 5m buffer zone surrounding them. This buffer is considered necessary for the support and preservation of the monument.
