Details

The monument comprises a Prehistoric round cairn, the central cairn of a
widely spaced 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, 9m in diameter and up to 0.8m
high. Stone-robbing has removed part of the mound's northern half, leaving
its lower rubble content intact. The SE half of the cairn remains an intact
and well-consolidated mound. Almost at the centre of the cairn is a
rectangular box-like structure called a cist, formed of four vertical stone
slabs, within which a burial would have been deposited. The cist measures
0.9m internally on its NE-SW long axis by 0.6m wide and is 0.4m deep. There
is no evidence for a covering slab. The cist has been revealed in the
southern face of the stone-robbed area, and lies embedded in the undisturbed
part of the mound.
This cairn is situated 175m NNW of the southern cairn in the linear group and
75m south of its northern cairn. Each of these cairns contains a 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 with its central cist on Twelve Men's Moor has survived
substantially intact despite the stone-robbing of parts of its northern half.
Its southern half, within which most of the cist remains embedded, is entirely
undisturbed and the cairn will retain its original sub-surface features,
including any burial deposits outside the cist. 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

Books and journals
Trahair, J E R, 'Cornish Archaeology' in A survey of cairns on Bodmin Moor, , Vol. 17, (1978)
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 1173.1,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1173.2,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1190,

Source: Historic England