More information : [NB this barrow was formerly recorded as part of SU 17 SW 57 (barrow 'A'). That record should be consulted for some additional sources and information]
'A' (SU 11257097) Bell(?) barrow, mound diam 48', height 5' ; berm width 6' ; ditch width 6' (no depth given). Excavated by Merewether in 1849 (barrow 3). Primary (?) cremation and remains of small bronze dagger which had been burnt. B & T arrowhead found. (Grinsell qualifies his classification by saying that apparent bell form may be due to removal of material by ploughing. Merewether says that it was a bowl barrow). (1-2)
A. SU 11257097. A bowl barrow 15m overall diameter and 1.3m high. Ditch ploughed out. Some mutiliation on the SE gives the slight suggestion of a bell barrow. (3)
All four barrows in the group were mapped at 1:10,000 from APs by the Fyfield Down and Overton Down Mapping Project. No additional information was recorded. (4-5)
The barrow was dug into by Merewether on August 10th 1849. His account in full runs as follows: "Somewhat smaller in dimensions than the others. Large fragments of bone, teeth, burnt wood; at about 8 feet deep a cist, 18 inches diameter, formed in the natural chalk bed, containing burnt human bones and two small pieces of bronze; a smooth stone tapering towards one end, which had been broken off - it may have been a spear-head, and a rather large flint arrow-head, were discovered in the progress of the excavation, as well as a small one of iron". Merewether described it as a bowl barrow, and provided illustrations of the artefacts, although the bronze fragments and the tapering stone object are not easily identifiable.
Identification of the bronze fragments as representing a dagger is far from certain. Merewether made no such identification, and his published drawings are little help. Goddard, in his 1911 corpus of Wiltshire bronzes, appears to include these items under the heading "Fragments of Bronze, indeterminate or undescribed..." (corpus no. 302), yet a couple of year later referred to "two small pieces of bronze (knife-daggers?)", the wording suggesting he was guessing. Grinsell more confidently asserted that Merewether had found the "corroded remains of small bronze dagger whichhad passed through the fire", though no further authority is given for this statement. Its subsequent history is unknown, and it is not mentioned in Gerloff's corpus of British Bronze Age daggers. (2-3, 6-8) |