Details

The monument comprises a Prehistoric round cairn, the northernmost of a
SSE-NNW linear group of three round cairns situated near other broadly
contemporary cairns, field systems and settlement sites on the wide saddle of
Twelve Men's Moor between Kilmar Tor and the Trewortha Tor-Hawkstor ridge on
eastern Bodmin Moor.
The cairn survives as a mound of heaped rubble, 7m in diameter and up to 0.4m
high, supporting a smaller, low, central mound, similarly of heaped rubble,
4.5m in diameter and rising a further 0.1m high. Almost at the centre of the
central mound are two stone slabs, 0.3m and 0.4m long respectively and each
0.3m wide. The slabs have fallen almost flat on the surface of the cairn from
an original upright arrangement at right angles to each other, when they would
have formed the SW and SE sides of a slab-lined box-like structure called a
cist, within which a burial would have been placed. The cist has been
revealed due to some stone robbing from the surface of the central mound but
it has not been archaeologically excavated. This cairn is situated 75m north
of the next cairn in the linear group, which also contains a visible cist.

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 on Twelve Men's Moor has survived well, displaying clearly
its original form despite the limited stone-robbing evident. It will also
retain many original sub-surface features, including burial deposits. Its
proximity to other broadly contemporary burial monuments of differing types
and to field systems and settlement sites demonstrates well both the diversity
of funerary practices and the organisation of land use during the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
consulted 9/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 2475 & 2575,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1014,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1173.2,
Consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1173.3,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1190,

Source: Historic England