Details

The monument includes a prehistoric funerary round cairn with a central cist
and an inner kerb situated on the eastern crest of a broad ridge between
Dinnever Hill and Louden Hill on north-west Bodmin Moor. The cairn is visible
as a low sub-circular mound of heaped rubble, measuring 9.25m north-south by
10.5m east-west, its edges merging into the surrounding thick turf and peat
deposits. The sides of the mound rise 0.2m to a flattened upper surface, 6m in
diameter and centred slightly south-east of the mound's centre. The perimeter
of this upper surface is defined by a projecting kerb of edge-set slabs, up to
0.8m long and rising up to 0.55m high. The largest slabs are in the north-west
sector of the kerb while those smaller slabs in the southern half of the kerb
are largely or wholly covered by turf. The slabs are generally spaced 0.2m to
1m apart with larger gaps in the north-east and south-west sectors. At the
centre of the upper surface is a hollow 2m in diameter and up to 0.1m deep,
resulting from an unrecorded antiquarian excavation. On the south-east edge of
the hollow, a large rectangular slab lies flat on the mound's upper surface.
The slab measures 1.5m by 1.2m with one corner fractured but not removed. The
size, shape and position of this slab are typical of a slightly displaced
capstone from a central cist, a box-like, slab-built structure within which
the burial was placed.
Beyond the monument, other prehistoric cairns are located on the adjacent
moorland on all sides from Dinnever Hill round to Louden Hill, the nearest
being located 200m to the west. Broadly contemporary ritual monuments in the
vicinity include the Stannon Stone Circle, 335m to the WNW on the north-west
lower flanks of this spur, and the Louden Stone Circle, 450m to the
south-east. Prehistoric hut circle settlements, field systems and linear
boundaries are situated on the spur from 90m to the west.

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

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of
prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human
exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The
well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field
systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains
provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land
use through time. Round cairns are funerary monuments covering single or
multiple burials and dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were
constructed as mounds of earth and stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter
but usually considerably smaller; a kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds
the edges of the mound. Burials were placed in small pits, or on occasion
within a box-like structure of stone slabs called a cist, let into the old
ground surface or dug into the body of the cairn. Round cairns can occur as
isolated monuments, in small groups or in larger cemeteries. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provides
important information on the diversity of beliefs, burial practices and social
organisation in the Bronze Age. They are particularly representative of their
period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of preservation.

This round cairn between Dinnever and Louden Hills has survived substantially
intact despite minor disturbance from an unrecorded antiquarian excavation
near its centre. The form of this cairn is unusual and distinctive, with its
inner kerb about a flattened central area with a central cist. The thick peat
deposits around the monument will preserve evidence for the environmental
context during and after the cairn's construction and use. The proximity of
this cairn to other broadly contemporary cairns, ritual monuments, settlement
sites and field systems demonstrates well the organisation and development of
land use during the Bronze Age and the relationship of funerary practices with
settlement and ritual activities among prehistoric communities.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
consulted 1993, Carter, A./CCRA/RCHME, 1:2500 AP plots and field traces for SX 1279-80; SX 1379-80,
consulted 1993, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1972.5,
consulted 1993, Johnson, N.D./Rose, P.G., CCRA Field Survey Record Card for Stannon South; Context 8, (1984)
Mercer, R.J., AM7 scheduling documentation for CO 898, 1972, consulted 1993

Source: Historic England