Details

The monument includes a prehistoric cairnfield near the top of the north east
slope of Ravock, Bowes Moor. It is situated 200m east of a prehistoric field
system, the subject of a separate scheduling.
The cairnfield consists of at least 12 cairns, between 2m and 5m in diameter
and up to 0.8m high, though a height of 0.3m is more typical. The cairns are
composed of sandstone boulders and rubble. Stone has been removed from all the
cairns for walling, in the past.

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

Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one
another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone
cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture,
and on occasion their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots.
However, funerary cairns are also frequently incorporated, although without
excavation it may be impossible to determine which cairns contain burials.
Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC),
although the majority of examples appear to be the result of field clearance
which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze
Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size,
content and associations of cairnfields provide important information on the
development of land use and agricultural practices. Cairnfields also retain
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation during the
prehistoric period.

The cairnfield on the north east slope of Ravock, Bowes Moor survives
reasonably well despite some stone robbing. It will retain significant
information on prehistoric land use on the moor. It is also part of a wider
prehistoric landscape in the area which includes further cairns and field
systems.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Ravock, Cleveland County Archaeology Section, A66 Archaeology Project, (1990)

Source: Historic England