Two Neolithic long barrows 590m north-east of Thorn Covert, West Ashby

Summary

The site of two Neolithic long barrows which are visible as cropmarks and soilmarks shown in aerial photography. They are approximately 25m apart and both roughly rectilinear in shape, aligned north-west by south-east.

Reasons for Designation

Two Neolithic long barrows 590m north-east of Thorn Covert, West Ashby are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: as clearly defined earthworks and crop marks representing the burial practices, beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities; 

* Potential: for buried deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals. Buried environmental evidence can also inform us about the landscape in which the barrows were constructed;  

* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, they are highly representative of the period;  

* Rarity: as an example of a monument type which is rare nationally and one of very few monument types to offer us insights into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country.

History

Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monument, constructed from before 3800 BC with new monuments continuing to be built throughout the 4th millennium BC. Where they are precisely dated it appears their primary use for burial rarely lasted longer than about 100 years. Generally comprising long, linear earthen mounds or stone cairns, often flanked by ditches, they can appear as distinctive features in the landscape. They measure up to about 100m in length, 35m in width and 4m in height, and are sometimes trapezoidal or oval in plan. Earthen long barrows are found mostly in southern and eastern England and are usually unchambered, although some examples have been found to contain timber mortuary structures. Regional variation in construction is generally a reflection of locally available resources. Megalithic or stone chambered tombs are most common in Scotland and Wales but are also found in those parts of England with ready access to the large stones and boulders from which they are constructed, especially the Cotswolds, the South-West and Kent. There are around 540 long barrows recorded nationally.

Long barrows of the Lincolnshire Wolds have been identified as a distinct regional grouping of monuments in which the flanking ditches are continued around the ends of the barrow mound, either continuously or broken by a single causeway towards one end. A small number survive as earthworks but the majority are known from crop marks and soil marks where no or very low mounds are evident on the surface. Not all Lincolnshire long barrows had mounds and our current understanding of Neolithic mortuary practices in this part of the country is that the large barrow mound was in fact the final phase of construction which was not reached by all monuments. Previously many of the sites where only the ditched enclosure is known have been interpreted as a barrow where the mound has been degraded or removed by subsequent agricultural activity. In some cases the ditched enclosure (mortuary enclosure) represents a monument which never developed a mound.

The two Neolithic long barrows 500m west of Field Farm were first scheduled in April 1996 based on aerial photographic evidence which showed the ditched enclosures as cropmarks. Geophysical survey was carried out over both barrows in April 2018, this identified that the northernmost barrow appeared to be longer than previously mapped from cropmark evidence. The same survey also identified another probable enclosure at the site and revealed ridge and furrow overlaying the monument. A trial trench excavation followed in October 2019 which confirmed the presence of the enclosing ditch of the larger, south-eastern, barrow. Finds from this excavation included sherds of Beaker pottery, waste flint flakes of Mesolithic to early-Neolithic date and post-Medieval finds which likely derived from waste having been spread on the fields during this period.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: two Neolithic long barrows approximately 25m apart and both broadly aligned north-west by south-east. The barrows are defined by enclosure ditches and are roughly rectilinear in form. The ditch of the south-western barrow forms a complete enclosure whilst the ditches of the north-eastern barrow are only clearly visible on the long axis with the terminals less well defined. The barrows are located on gently sloping ground below the crest of the south-west facing valley slope overlooking West Ashby Beck at 95m AOD.

DESCRIPTION: the two Neolithic long barrows are visible on aerial photographs (APs) as two rectilinear forms. The barrows show as a very slight earthwork on a 1948 vertical photograph, and again on a digital elevation model (DEM) which records the survival of slight earthworks. The mounds are widely spread, with the north-eastern mound displaced beyond the cropmarks of the ditch. This spread is likely the result of post-Second World War arable agricultural practices.

The larger, south-western, barrow is aligned north-west to south-east and measures 56m in length and 23m wide. A geophysical survey undertaken in 2018 confirmed a complete ditch surrounds the barrow but revealed the terminals to be flatter than had previously been recorded through AP. A trial trench excavation measured the enclosing ditch as being 4.1m wide and 0.9m deep, which was wider than the geophysical survey had suggested.

The smaller, north-eastern, barrow has two parallel sides orientated north-north-west to south-south-east and measures 39m long and 16m wide. The barrow appears to be open at the north-west end and encounters a possible ditch feature at the south-east end. This ditch feature appears to be the outline of an irregular enclosure that was revealed by the geophysical survey but extends beyond the survey area.

Medieval ridge and furrow was also recorded within the survey area, traces of which were identified over the monument and converge on the top of the large barrow suggesting that the hillock of the barrow mound was visible in the Medieval or post-Medieval era. The ridge and furrow also helps date the enclosure to the south of the smaller barrow as it seems to respect the furrow orientation and therefore could be contemporary.

Valuable archaeological deposits will be preserved in the mound on the buried ground surface and in the fills of the ditch. These will provide rare information concerning the dating and construction of the monument and the sequence of mortuary practices at the site. The same deposits may also retain environmental evidence illustrating the nature of the contemporary landscape in which the monument was set.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. The scheduling includes a 5 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

27891

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Last, J, Beyond the Grave, New Perspectives on Barrows, (2007)
Jones, D, Long Barrows and Neolithic Elongated Enclosures in Lincolnshire: An Analysis of the Air Photographic Evidence. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 64, 1998, pp83-114, (1998), 83-114
Field, D, Earthen Long Barrows, The Earliest Monuments in the British Isles, (2006)
Woodward, A, British Barrows A Matter of Life and Death, (2000)

Other
Discussions, Jones, D, (1995)
Oblique monochrome photographs, Everson, P, 2974/7,10,13, (1979)

End of official list entry

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