Cropmarks of a probable Neolithic long barrow, to the east of Fordington House Farm. The cropmarks may actually represent the remains of two coinjoined barrows, giving the appearance of one long feature. The cropmarks of both parts show as ditched enclosures, the south-eastern part measuring approximately 125m long and with an inturned entrance on the eastern side. The north-western part is much sm and more oval in shape, measuring 20m long by 12m wide, and with what seem to be entrances at both ends. Identified on aerial photography examined as part of the National Mapping Programme. {1}{2} The monument includes the buried remains of a Neolithic long barrow, located on the eastern side of the valley of the tributary of the river Lymn. It was first identified in 1976 and was recorded on aerial photographs. A geophysical survey in 1989 further demonstrated its form and extent. Although the barrow mound has been degraded by ploughing, the encircling ditch is preserved beneath the present ground surface. Valuable archaeological information will be retained in the fills of this ditch, and on and within the buried ground surface, relating to the construction of the monument and to the sequence of mortuary ritual at the site. Environmental evidence preserved in the same contexts will illustrate the nature of the landscape in which the monument was set. The dimensions of the long barrow are worthy of note since it represents the largest of the class yet identified in Lincolnshire. The monument forms part of a dispersed group of long barrows associated with the bluestone heath road and known as the Skendleby group. The road itself is thought to have originated as a prehistoric trackway and is, at this point overlain by the course of a roman road. A section of the monument, towards the western end, has been disturbed by chalk quarrying and this provided an opportunity for limited archaeological evaluation in 1989. Sampling for radiocarbon dating confirmed that the monument was constructed in the Neolithic period. {3} The long barrow is located on a south-facing valley lip. It is aligned east-south-west to west-north-west, with the long axis running parallel to the contours. It takes the form of a very elongated enclosure, comprising two close, parallel ditches, which bell out at the eastern end to give a spoon shape. A causeway occurs at the eastern end, and possibly also at the western end. The spoon-shaped east end may be caused by a secondary ring ditch. The enclosure is bisected towards the western end by a disused quarry pit, which allowed the access for the archaeological investigation of 1989-90. This investigation recovered a red deer antler from the primary fill of the northern ditch, with the antler being the sampled material submitted for radiocarbon dating. This produced an uncalibrated date 4660 +/- 60 BP. A second, much smaller possible Neolithic long barrow lies a short distance to the north (see MLI43175). {4}{5} The barrow is visible as cropmarks on more recent aerial photography taken of this area. Though faint, the cropmarks indicate thre remains of a long eathern mound flanked by two irregular side ditches. The entire barrow measures in the region of 130m in length and tapers from 28m across at the eastern end to 18m across at the western. This western end may be open-ended whilst there is a possible trace of the ditches curving around the eastern end. A small quarry cuts right trough the barrow separating the western quarter from the rest of the barrow. The possible barrow described by the previous Source as being located to the north may be geological in origin (see MLI43175). {6}{7}