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Stonesteads bowl barrow

A Scheduled Monument in Waterhouses, Staffordshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.0519 / 53°3'6"N

Longitude: -1.8761 / 1°52'33"W

OS Eastings: 408402.286932

OS Northings: 350526.941348

OS Grid: SK084505

Mapcode National: GBR 36T.LHT

Mapcode Global: WHCDX.4KW5

Entry Name: Stonesteads bowl barrow

Scheduled Date: 13 June 1968

Last Amended: 26 November 1992

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008966

English Heritage Legacy ID: 22408

County: Staffordshire

Civil Parish: Waterhouses

Traditional County: Staffordshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Staffordshire

Church of England Parish: Waterfall St James and St Bartholomew

Church of England Diocese: Lichfield

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located at the western edge of a broad
shelf 300m north of Waterhouses. It survives as a slightly oval earth and
stone mound up to 0.6m high with maximum dimensions of 12m by 11.5m. Limited
antiquarian investigation at the barrow's centre located a pavement of thin,
flat stones upon which lay a contracted adult inhumation with flint artefacts,
a boar's tusk knife and a bone ring adjacent. Burnt bones indicating a
cremation were also found.

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 limited antiquarian investigation of the monument's centre Stonesteads
bowl barrow survives well. This investigation located human remains together
with artefacts of flint, bone and tusk, and further evidence of interments and
grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old landsurface.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861)
Other
Carrington, Barrow Diggers (Unpub MS with letters and notes), 1848,
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), (1988)

Source: Historic England

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