Details

The monument includes a saucer barrow set below the crest of a steep
east-facing slope overlooking the Wylye Valley. It comprises a central mound
12m across and 1m high surrounded by a ditch and outer bank. The ditch, from
which material was quarried during construction of the monument, has become
partly infilled over the years but survives as an earthwork 3m wide and 0.75m
deep. The outer bank is 2m wide and 0.5m high.
The site is believed to have been opened and partly excavated by Colt-Hoare in
the 19th century although no details are known.

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

Saucer barrows are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, most examples
dating to between 1800 and l200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in
barrow cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of round barrows). They were
constructed as a circular area of level ground defined by a bank and internal
ditch and largely occupied by a single low, squat mound covering one or more
burials, usually in a pit. The burials, either inhumations or cremations, are
sometimes accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. Saucer
barrows are one of the rarest recognised forms of round barrow, with about 60
known examples nationally, most of which are in Wessex. The presence of grave
goods within the barrows provides important evidence for chronological and
cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern
England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social
organisation. As a rare and fragile form of round barrow, all identified
saucer barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

Despite the probability that the site was partially excavated by Colt-Hoare in
the 19th century the Boar's Bottom saucer barrow survives well and has
potential for the recovery of both archaeological remains and environmental
evidence relating to the period in which the monument was constructed.

Source: Historic England