Scheduled Monument: Two Bowl Barrows 390M And 320M South-South-West Of Home Farm (1007387)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Two bowl barrows 390m and 320m south-south-west of Home Farm PARISH: LOWER WITHINGTON DISTRICT: MACCLESFIELD COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 22586 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ80677236 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes two bowl barrows located on flat land 390m and 320m south-south-west of Home Farm. The southern barrow is an earthen mound 35m in diameter and up to 0.75m high. The northern barrow is a turf and sand mound 35m in diameter and up to 0.5m high. Limited excavation of the northern barrow during the 1970's located the primary burial which included a cremation of a teenage woman. The body was cremated and the larger bones broken and placed in a leather container. This was placed in a pit and covered with a square of turf, which in turn was covered with a layer of sand and gravel, and then charcoal. The mound was then built over this. A date of c.1900 BC was derived from the associated charcoal by radio-carbon dating. There were also 2 or 3 secondary cremations. These included 2 cremations in pits, and a shallow scoop 20cm from the primary pit which contained cremated bone and 2 teeth. The earliest of these secondary cremations was dated to c.1700 BC. Finds included flint artefacts recovered throughout the excavation, and a copper rivet from the primary burial. Evidence for flat burials outside the perimeter of the barrows came from a pit 2m long and 0.4m deep adjacent to the northern barrow which contained fragments of an inhumation. 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 spreading of the monument by ploughing, the bowl barrows 390m and 320m south-south-west of Home Farm survive reasonably well. Limited excavation of the northern barrow located human remains together with flint, metal and leather artefacts, and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath. The southern barrow is not known to have been excavated and will contain undisturbed archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath. Additionally the monument is a rare example in Cheshire where flat burials are known to be located outside the perimeter of the burial mounds. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 20th October 1993