Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated 500m south of Bunting's Farm.
The barrow's mound has been reduced by ploughing, but survives as a gravel
rise, which stands 0.2m high with a 23m diameter. Surrounding the mound
is a ditch, from which earth was dug in the construction of the mound. It has
become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature, visible on
aerial photographs as a cropmark (an area of enhanced growth resulting from
higher levels of moisture retained by the underlying archaeological features).
From the width of this cropmark by comparison with examples excavated
elsewhere in the area, the ditch is thought to measure approximately 5m wide.
The barrow is situated on a gravel peninsula, along the fen edge, where it
once met the prehistoric course of the River Nene. This location, with its
combination of wetter and drier grounds and easy access along the
waterways, acted as a focal point for prehistoric activity, and has left a
wide range of evidence. Approximately 1.2km to the south east lies Suet Hills
round barrow cemetery, the subject of a separate scheduling.

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.

The bowl barrow 500m south of Bunting's Farm, which survives as an
earthwork, is well preserved, and will contain a range of information
relating to the barrow's construction, the manner and duration of its
use, as well as ritual and domestic activity on the site. Buried soils
underneath the mound will retain valuable archaeological evidence
concerning land use in the area prior to the construction of the barrow,
while organic deposits preserved in the ditch will provide information on
environmental conditions (eg climate, flora and fauna) since the
construction of the barrow. The monument has additional value as part of
an important prehistoric landscape.

Source: Historic England