Ancient Monuments

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Round barrow at Sunburnt Nab

A Scheduled Monument in Hawnby, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.3282 / 54°19'41"N

Longitude: -1.2118 / 1°12'42"W

OS Eastings: 451357.731681

OS Northings: 492795.394887

OS Grid: SE513927

Mapcode National: GBR MLZD.G7

Mapcode Global: WHD85.CG6T

Entry Name: Round barrow at Sunburnt Nab

Scheduled Date: 8 February 1968

Last Amended: 25 October 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008592

English Heritage Legacy ID: 25509

County: North Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Hawnby

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: Upper Ryedale

Church of England Diocese: York

Details

The monument includes a round barrow on the upper slopes of the north flank of
Arden Great Moor.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing 0.7m high. It is round in
shape and 8m in diameter. This mound was surrounded by a ditch up to 3m wide
which has become filled in over the years and is no longer visible as an
earthwork. It is one of many similar barrows on the Hambleton Hills. Many of
these lie in closely associated groups. They provide evidence of prehistoric
territorial organisation marking the division of land, divisions which still
remain as some parish or township boundaries.

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.

This barrow has not been disturbed and significant information about the
original form, burials placed within it and evidence of earlier land use
beneath the mound will be preserved.
Together with adjacent barrows it is thought to represent a territorial
marker. Similar groups of monuments are also known across the north and
central areas of the North York Moors, providing important insight into burial
practice. Such groupings of monuments offer important scope for the study of
the division of land for social, ritual and agricultural purposes in different
geographical areas during the prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. BAR 104, (1993)

Source: Historic England

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