Netheravon Barrows, Figheldean, Wiltshire: Report on Analytical Earthwork and Geophysical Surveys, April and May 2014

Author(s): Paul Linford, Andy Payne, Neil Linford, Mark Bowden, Zoe Edwards, Elaine Jamieson

During the installation of mitigation measures to reduce burrowing animal damage, a number of Early Bronze Age artefacts and a quantity of cremated human bone were found within spoil ejected from an active badger sett from the central mound of a group of three barrows at Netheravon, Figheldean, Wiltshire. Earth resistance, Earth Resistance Tomography (ERT) sections and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys were conducted over the barrow producing the finds (~0.1ha), but were precluded from use over the other two monuments due to the prior installation of steel meshing. A subsequent analytical earthwork survey provided an immediate archaeological context of the whole group and, together, the surveys suggest a complex, phased development to the barrows which have suffered damage through a combination of quarrying, badger damage and the introduction of recent building waste. The badger sett producing the finds does not appear to penetrate deep into the mound, implying that the artefacts may not be from a primary deposit, perhaps suggesting the monument has an earlier origin.

Report Number:
77/2014
Series:
Research Report
Pages:
13
Keywords:
Bronze Age Earth Resistance Geophysical Survey Ground Penetrating Radar Analytical Landscape Survey

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