Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which is one of a number of barrows
situated on the crest of Acklam Wold.
Although altered by agricultural activity, the barrow is still visible as a
mound 1.5m high and 40m in diameter. A ditch 22m in diameter surrounds the
barrow and, although the ditch has become buried by the gradual spreading of
the mound material, it has been identified on aerial photographs. The barrow
was recorded and partially excavated in 1849 by W Proctor of the York
Antiquarian Club and in 1878 by J R Mortimer; two adult burials in a 1m deep
pit were found by Mortimer who also observed that the mound was built on top
of a natural clay outcrop which was slightly higher than the surrounding
chalk.

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.

Although this barrow has been partially altered by agricultural activity, it
is still clearly visible and was also comparatively well-documented during
campaigns of fieldwork in the 19th century. Further evidence of the structure
of the mound, the surrounding ditch and the burials will survive.
The monument is one of a closely associated group of barrows which have
further associations with broadly contemporary boundary earthworks in the
vicinity of Acklam Wold. Similar groups of monuments are also known from other
parts of the Wolds and from the southern edge of the North York Moors. Such
associations between 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
Mortimer, J R , Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905), 89-90
Other
Stoertz, K, (1992)

Source: Historic England