Summary
Neolithic long barrow, two rectilinear enclosures and a round barrow surviving as crop marks.
Reasons for Designation
The long barrow, two Neolithic mortuary enclosures and adjacent round barrow to the west of Barton Lodge are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: the buried remains of a prehistoric long barrow, mortuary enclosures and round barrow confirmed to survive from geophysical survey and visible as clearly defined crop marks;
* Potential: for the buried archaeological deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals. Buried environmental evidence can also inform us about the landscape in which the barrows were constructed;
* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, they are highly representative of the period;
* Rarity: long barrows are rare nationally, and barrows are one of very few monument types to offer us insights into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country;
* Group value: as one of an important regional group of scheduled long barrows that indicate the ritual significance of the location. The frequency of these monuments has wider implications for the study of Neolithic demography and settlement patterns in the region.
History
Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monument, 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 cropmarks (an area of enhanced crop growth caused by higher moisture levels retained by the fills of underlying archaeological features) 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.
Round barrows have a considerable pedigree with origins dating to before 5,000 years ago (3000 BC), and which cover similar complex sequences of activity to that of long barrows. Size varies quite dramatically from examples of only 5m or 6m across to those that take on monumental proportions of over 50m diameter and 6m in height. The main period of round barrow construction occurred between about 4,000 and 3,500 years ago (2000-1500 BC). Subtleties on the surface only rarely allow different forms to be distinguished and most occur as simple amorphous swellings.
The long barrow, two mortuary enclosures and adjacent round barrow are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs dating to 1999. The features form a small mortuary complex which have been mapped as part of the Lincolnshire Long Barrows Project (2018).
Details
Principal elements: the monument includes the buried remains of a mortuary complex of Neolithic date, visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (1999). The complex comprises a long barrow with two rectilinear enclosures (interpreted as possible mortuary enclosures) adjoining it to the south-east, and a round barrow lying just to the south-east.
The complex is located to the south of Barton Upon Humber, on the west side of Burnham Road, 820m south of Eastfield Farm (at the end of Eastfield Road) and 620m west of Barton Lodge. It lies on a gentle east-facing slope at a height of approximately 38m AOD.
Description: the long barrow, visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs, is centred at TA0380 1968. It is aligned north-east to south-west, and measures 51m x 23m, with internal dimensions of 47m x 17m. It is defined by a complete circuit of ditch approximately 2m in width, though up to 4m in width on the longer axis. No mound material was recorded at the long barrow site.
Two later prehistoric rectilinear enclosures, interpreted as possible mortuary enclosures, are appended to the south-east of the long barrow. The first of the mortuary enclosures is centred at TA 0385 1963, and shares roughly the same alignment. It is defined by a single ditch and is subrectangular in shape, with rounded corners. It measures approximately 65m x 50m and has a possible entrance located centrally in its eastern side.
The second mortuary enclosure, centred at TA 0384 1967, appears to have been built after the long barrow and the first enclosure, as it fills the gap between the two and adjoins both. It, too, is defined by a single ditch, is sub-rectangular in shape with rounded corners, and measures approximately 90m x 38m.
The potential round barrow lies approximately 100m SE of the long barrow. It is centred at TA 0394 1963, and is defined by a fragmentary broad ditch which has a diameter of 31m. Lighter coloured crops in the interior of the barrow may indicate the remains of mound material.
Valuable archaeological deposits will be preserved on the buried ground surfaces and in the fills of the ditches. These will provide rare information concerning the dating and construction of the monument and the sequence of mortuary practices at the site. The same deposits will also retain environmental evidence illustrating the nature of the landscape in which the monument was set.
Extent of Scheduling: the site of the monument includes a 5m boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
