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Description

Reasons for Designation 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 two bowl barrows in Burwell Wood, which are visible from the public footpath to the south, are undisturbed and will retain valuable archaeological deposits, including human remains, beneath the mounds and in the fills of the buried ditches, relating to their dating and construction. Environmental deposits preserved in the same features will contain information on the nature of the landscape in which the monuments were constructed and used. The buried ground surface between the two barrows may contain evidence of activities focussed upon the barrows during and after their period of use. A comparison between the archaeological remains within the barrows would provide valuable information concerning the development of funerary ritual and the beliefs of the communities which built these monuments. The close association of these two barrows is indicative of the ritual significance of the location during the prehistoric period. Details The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of two Bronze Age bowl barrows located some 44m above sea level between two tributaries of the Great Eau, close to the south eastern boundary of Burwell Wood. Although the barrow mounds are now somewhat obscured by beech trees, they would formerly have appeared as prominent landscape features when approached from the east and west. The southern mound, is some 20m in diameter and c.2m high with gently sloping sides and a slightly flattened summit. The northern mound, which lies some 15m to the north west, is of a similar diameter, standing to a maximum of 1m. Its summit is uneven, an effect thought to be caused by the uprooting of trees. The encircling ditches from which material for the mounds would have been quarried are not visible but are thought to survive buried beneath the present ground surface.

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