Details

The monument includes a ditched bowl barrow, lying on comparatively level
ground 50m north east of the junction of two extensive linear boundary
earthworks on Easton Down.
The barrow has a mound 9m in diameter and 0.4m high surrounded by a shallow
ditch 1.5m wide. The barrow was discovered by J F S Stone in the early 1930s
and was partly excavated by him shortly afterwards. The excavation showed that
the barrow mound was made of chalk excavated from the surrounding ditch and
that it covered a central grave. This, for the size of the barrow mound, was
surprisingly large, measuring 1.7m by 0.96m and was cut 0.3m into the
underlying chalk. The grave contained only a human skull, deliberately buried
and not part of a disturbed burial, accompanied by a roughly shaped flint
implement.

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

Since 1916 the Porton Down Range has been used for military purposes. As on
the Salisbury Plain Training Area, this has meant that it has not been subject
to the intensive arable farming seen elsewhere on the Wessex chalk. Porton, as
a result, is one of very few surviving areas of uncultivated chalk downland in
England and contains a range of well-preserved archaeological sites, many of
Neolithic or Bronze Age date. These include long barrows and round barrows,
flint mines, and evidence for settlement, land division and agriculture.
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 organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.

The bowl barrow 750m NNE of Easton Down Farm is a well preserved example of
its class. Small barrows are particularly vulnerable to erosion but this
example exhibits a largely original profile. Part excavation has served to
confirm the dating of the barrow and has provided evidence of an unusual
burial rite. Within its remaining buried deposits, the barrow will contain
archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age beliefs, economy
and environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Stone, J F S, 'Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine' in A Case of Bronze Age Cephalotaphy on Easton Down, , Vol. Vol 46, (1934), 563-7

Source: Historic England