Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of two Bronze Age bowl
barrows located some 44m above sea level between two tributaries of the Great
Eau, close to the south eastern boundary of Burwell Wood. Although the barrow
mounds are now somewhat obscured by beech trees, they would formerly have
appeared as prominent landscape features when approached from the east and
west.
The southern mound, is some 20m in diameter and c.2m high with gently sloping
sides and a slightly flattened summit.
The northern mound, which lies some 15m to the north west, is of a similar
diameter, standing to a maximum of 1m. Its summit is uneven, an effect thought
to be caused by the uprooting of trees.
The encircling ditches from which material for the mounds would have been
quarried are not visible but are thought to survive buried beneath the present
ground surface.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 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.

The two bowl barrows in Burwell Wood, which are visible from the public
footpath to the south, are undisturbed and will retain valuable archaeological
deposits, including human remains, beneath the mounds and in the fills of the
buried ditches, relating to their dating and construction. Environmental
deposits preserved in the same features will contain information on the nature
of the landscape in which the monuments were constructed and used. The buried
ground surface between the two barrows may contain evidence of activities
focussed upon the barrows during and after their period of use. A comparison
between the archaeological remains within the barrows would provide valuable
information concerning the development of funerary ritual and the beliefs of
the communities which built these monuments.
The close association of these two barrows is indicative of the ritual
significance of the location during the prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England