Scheduled Monument: Bowl barrow 350m south west of Buzbury Rings (1013789)

MONUMENT: Bowl barrow 350m south west of Buzbury Rings PARISH: TARRANT KEYNESTON DISTRICT: NORTH DORSET COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 27362 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): ST91500565 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes the remains of a bowl barrow 350m south west of Buzbury Rings hillfort on a narrow spur of Keynston Down near the parish boundary. The barrow has a low mound c.15m in diameter and 0.3m high. There is no sign of a ditch surrounding the mound but this will survive as a buried feature c.2m wide. This may be the barrow part excavated in 1840 by J H Austen which produced a Middle Bronze Age urn. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE 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. Despite having been reduced in height by cultivation, the bowl barrow 350m south west of Buzbury Rings hillfort will contain archaeological remains, providing information about Bronze Age burial practices, economy and environment. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 26th February 1962 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Dorset 657 NAME: Round barrow north of Down Farm The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 27362 NAME: Bowl barrow 350m south west of Buzbury Rings SCHEDULING AFFIRMED ON 11th January 1996

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 3:44PM