Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow forming part of a wider cemetery and
situated on the crest of a prominent ridge.

The mound has a diameter of 21m and is 2m high. Surrounding the mound is a
ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has
become infilled over the years and can no longer be seen at ground level but
survives as a buried feature c.3.5m wide.

In the 19th century workmen digging for gravel at the side of the barrow found
human skeletons laid side by side, almost in a circle.

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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

Despite partial excavations in the 19th century, the bowl barrow on Mottistone
Down will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating
to the cemetery and the landscape in which it was constructed. This barrow is
amongst a number which survive in the area of downland above Brighstone.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
'Journal of the British Archaeological Association' in British Archaeological Association, , Vol. 12, (1856), 85

Source: Historic England