Details

The monument includes a round barrow cemetery, situated approximately 330m
east of Linden Lea on the east side of the A1139. The mounds of the barrows
have been reduced by ploughing and are no longer visible. The ditches, from
which earth was dug in the construction of the mounds, became infilled but
survive as buried features visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The
aerial photographs also reveal internal features, which may include burial
pits.

In 1989 the ditches were partly excavated and found to be between 1m and 1.25m
wide. The ditch of the northernmost barrow is approximately 20m in diameter
and contained a worked Bronze Age flint. Nearby to the south east is another
ditch with a diameter of 20m, within which two small pits are situated. Its
south western neighbour is 20m in diameter. A trench across its south eastern
edge revealed two or three superimposed ditches containing three pieces of
worked flint, including one blade. Its north western corner interlinks with
its western neighbour which has a diameter of 27m. The southernmost ditch is
the largest in the group with a diameter of 30m.

The round barrow cemetery is thought to have formed part of a larger Bronze
Age cemetery, as cropmark evidence 600m to the south west suggests. The
survival of these barrows is, however, uncertain and they are not therefore
included in the scheduling. In the medieval period the field in which the
mounds stood was cultivated, leaving remains of ridge and furrow.

All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath
them is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 10 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

The round barrow cemetery 330m east of Linden Lea is part of an important
prehistoric landscape in the Nene Valley and is amongst the rare surviving
examples of Bronze Age cemeteries in this area, most of which have been
destroyed by ploughing. As a result of partial excavation in 1989 the remains
are quite well understood, while significant archaeological deposits survive
intact.

These remains will retain valuable archaeological evidence contributing to an
understanding of Bronze Age funerary ritual and the social and economic
development of the region during this period.

Source: Historic England