Details

The monument is a bowl barrow located on the summit of Nab Head. It includes
an oval mound of earth and stones up to 1.8m high with maximum dimensions of
19m by 17m. At the barrow's centre is a hollow 4m in diameter and 0.4m deep
within which is an Ordnance Survey column. A shallow trench has been cut from
the barrow's north-western side into the central hollow. Surrounding the
barrow on all sides except the west, where it underlies an old field boundary,
is a shallow ditch 0.4m wide by 0.2m deep which is separated from the mound by
a berm 3.5m wide.
The Ordnance Survey column is excluded from the scheduling, although the
ground beneath the column is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl
barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring
across most of lowland Britain. 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
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.

Despite surface damage to the monument's centre and north-western quadrant,
Nab Head bowl barrow survives reasonably well and will contain undisturbed
archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath.
The form of the monument, including a berm between the mound and surrounding
ditch, is unusual.

Source: Historic England