Summary

Two bowl barrows 940m south east of Puddle Dairy.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 11 January 2016. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument, which falls into two areas, includes two bowl barrows situated on the upper south east facing slopes of Little Piddle Down overlooking the dry valley of Holcombe Bottom. The barrows survive as circular mounds surrounded by buried quarry ditches from which the construction material was derived. The north western mound measures 23.4m in diameter and 1.4m high. The south eastern mound is 22m in diameter and 1.2m high. One of these barrows was partially excavated by Cunnington in 1881 and found to contain a primary cremation beneath a central cairn and seven secondary cremations. Four of these were contained in ‘bucket’ urns, a fifth in a ‘globular’ urn and two were without urns.

Further archaeological remains in the vicinity are the subject of separate schedulings.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite partial early excavation the two bowl barrows 940m south east of Puddle Dairy survive well and will retain further archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, relative chronologies, territorial significance, social organisation, ritual and funerary practices and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:-452988

Source: Historic England