Monument record MLI50239 - Neolithic Long Barrow, Normanby Dales

Summary

Cropmarks of a Neolithic long barrow, to the west of Normanby Dales.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

Cropmarks of a Neolithic long barrow, to the west of Normanby Dales. The cropmarks are visible on aerial photographs, and show an elongated oblong ditched enclosure with a rather bulbous southern end. The probable barrow is located at the edge of the interfluve spur ridge, below the crest and overlooking Normanby Dales to the east. It is aligned on a north-west to south-east axis, with its long axis traversing the contours. The full north-western extent is uncertain, whilst the south-eastern end bells outwards slightly and possibly has a gap on the east. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5} The buried remains of a Neolithic long barrow, located 160m above sea level, below the summit of a plateau separating the valleys of the Nettleton and Otby Becks. It overlooks the head of the Otby Beck which rises in Normanby Dales some 400m to the east. Although no longer visible on the ground, the monument is clearly visible from the air as an elongated oblong cropmark aligned on a south-east to north-west axis, and defined by a perimeter ditch measuring approximately 60m long by 30m wide. The long sides of the ditch are straight and the south-eastern, wider end is slightly convex. The ditch may have supported a palisade and façade or an arrangement of posts, and it delineated an area set aside for mortuary activities including the exposure of human remains. Structures and deposits associated with these activities will survive as buried features within the enclosure. The monument lies in close proximity to a number of other Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows whose association with the valley of the Otby Beck and with the prehistoric trackway, now formalised as High Street, indicates the ritual significance of this location in the prehistoric period. The number of these monuments in this area also poses wider questions regarding prehistoric demography and settlement patterns. {6} The long barrow is visible as a cropmark on more recent aerial photography, and as a shallow earthwork on a digital elevation model derived from 2m gridded height data. The cropmarks show three sides of a trapezoid enclosure, elongated north-west by south-east and measuring 70.7m by 27.4m. The north-west face is not visible. The shallow earthworks shows the former barrow mound material, though now spread by ploughing to a much wider footprint than the ditched enclosure. {7}{8}{9}

Sources/Archives (9)

  •  Article in Monograph: Dilwyn Jones. 1989. 'Aerial Evidence from the Survey Area and its Environs' in Archaeology and Landscape Studies in North Lincolnshire. no.208, part.II, pp.14-5.
  •  Aerial Photograph: Paul Everson. 1975-90. RCHM. 2977/30, 36-8 (1979).
  •  Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. Lincolnshire National Mapping Programme. TF1295: LI.299.4.1.
  •  Article in Serial: Dilwyn Jones. 1998. 'Long Barrows and Neolithic Elongated Enclosures in Lincolnshire: An Analysis of the Air Photographic Evidence' in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. vol.64, pp.83-114, no.46.
  •  Index: Dilwyn Jones. 1998. Gazetteer of Neolithic Elongated Enclosures and Extant Long Barrows in (Historic) Lincolnshire. no.46.
  •  Scheduling Record: ENGLISH HERITAGE. 1996. SCHEDULING DOCUMENT 27895. MPP 22.
  •  Aerial Photograph: Aerial Photograph. NMR 17474/6 (07/07/2000).
  •  Aerial Photograph: Aerial Photograph. TF1295 (02/05/2008).
  •  Aerial Photograph: Aerial Photograph. NMR 28847_057-065 (28/01/2016).

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred TF 1257 9575 (65m by 63m) Estimated from Sources
Civil Parish NORMANBY LE WOLD, WEST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

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Record last edited

Feb 14 2024 2:09PM

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