| Summary : A Bronze Age bowl barrow, listed by Grinsell as Preshute 1a, excavated in 1906 by B and M Cunnington. Approximately central beneath the mound was a crouched inhumation, said to be an adult female, lying on the former ground surface, accompanied by numerous objects including a bronze knife-dagger with amber pommel, a small dagger blade, 150 shale beads, some amber beads, a gold-bound amber disc, a gold-bound shale bead, a small gold "halberd pendant" with bronze blade, some bronze awls, and a small pottery "grape cup". An incense cup was found a short distance away. Elsewhere in the mound was an upright Collared Urn, though no accompanying cremation was found. All the finds are in Devizes Museum. The skeleton was reinterred after excavation and the barrow reconstructed. |
More information : (SU 16496912) Tumulus (NR) (1)
'The Manton Barrow', Preshute la Wessex grave 68; bowl barrow, 22 paces x 3 3/4ft, excavated by B H Cunnington. It yielded a primary crouched skeleton with grape cup, another incense cup, bronze blade with amber pommel, shale bead with gold bands, gold-mounted amber disc, gold mounted halberd pendant, flat bronze dagger, 3 bronze awls, and necklace or head ornament of 150 shale beads, 4 of amber, and one of fossil encrinite, and other objects. Nine feet away, an upright collared urn, empty but a few broken bones beneath it: uncertain whether primary or secondary. The barrow had two concentric ditches (suggesting possible enlargement for secondary interment?). An original turf-line, a triangular flint arrowhead and piece of igneous rock, perhaps from the Penzance area. Finds in Devizes Museum. (2)
This is a wide, spread bowl barrow with a maximum height of 1.5m. There is no trace of a ditch, or ditches. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (3)
A report of the excavation was published in 1907 by ME Cunnington (4), who provides a full inventory of finds and their position in the mound relative to the crouched inhumation, described as an adult female. Cunnington refers to a deposit of "about two spadefuls of clayey soil full of bones", interpreted as a deposit of food (ie animal) remains a short distance in front of the skull of the primary interment. A similar, though smaller, deposit is reported from c1ft below the Collared Urn. The primary interment appears to have been covered or wrapped in cloth, impressions of which survived on the clay surrounding the skeleton. Lists and discussion of the grave-goods are provided by Annable & Simpson (5) and Gerloff (6) among others. The Collared Urn is assigned by Longworth (7) to his Secondary Series. The amber dagger pommel is described and discussed by Hardaker (8).
Maud Cunnington produced two almost identical versions of the excavation report, one for The Reliquary, and the other for the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (though in both she claimed, falsely, that the excavation was directed by her husband). As the published photographs of the excavation and the very sketchy drawing of the interment show, it was very much an excavation of its time - Cunnington wrote that "No digging was allowed to be done unless we ourselves were present, every spadeful was looked over as it was thrown out, and when the interment was reached we cleared the earth and removed all the relics with our own hands. To sift all the material of the barrow would have been a gigantic task, but that in the vicinity of the finds was carefully sifted". Apparently the landowner at the time, Dr Maurice of Marlborough, was concerned that the site should be investigated before it was completely destroyed by cultivation, not ploughing it presumably not being an option, although subsequently it was decided to re-inter the skeleton and rebuild the mound and plant it with trees.
The barrow itself appears to have been constructed upon a natural rise in the ground. At the time of excavation in October 1906, the height of the barrow (measured to the surface of the underlying chalk) was 3 feet 9 inches. The excavation technique involved being "attacked by means of a trench 4ft wide cut from the south-westerly extremity towards the north-east, and designed to strike through its centre; subsequently other trenches were cut towards the east and south, and the whole of the central part of the barrow was thrown over in the hope, that proved futile, of finding secondary interments." Little detail of the mound is given, though it was noted that "irregular layers of yellowish colour, that appeared to be the result of burning" were present throughout the mound. It was also observed that there were two ditches present, although they were not subjected to much investigation. No trace was noted on the north-eastern side of the mound, and they were described as being about 14 inches deep and 2 feet 9 inches wide at the top, narrowing towards the bottom. The two ditches were less than 2 feet apart. Both ditches were found to be just within the area covered by the mound, though Cunnington suggested that this was a product of the spreading of the mound by ploughing.
Few finds were found on the old ground surface or in the barrow mound itself. The most notable was a triangular flint arrowhead and a single potsherd "of doubtful age". The main burial was found close to the presumed centre of the mound. It comprised a crouched adult inhumation, said to be an elderly female although the report on the bones, by Beddoe, doesn't inspire confidence. The skeleton lay directly on the old ground surface, and had apparently been covered by a primary turf mound. In front of the skeleton were "about two spadefuls of clayey soil full of bones, too much broken and decayed to admit of any identification", though Cunnington suggested they represented a food offering.
The approximate position of all grave goods was marked on the sketch drawing of the burial. Immediately in front of the skull, close to the neck, was a clay stud, which has been interpreted as some kind of dress-fastening, although an alternative explanation - a lip-stud - has also been offered. Behind the skull and shoulders were a small bronze knife-dagger with amber pommel, a gold-bound amber disc, a gold-bound shale bead and a "halberd pendant" (a small halberd-shaped object) of gold with bronze blade, plus some 150 shale beads and five amber beads and a "grape-cup" - a small accessory vessel. Close to the feet were 3 bronze awls, a small bronze dagger blade and three further beads. An incesne cup was found a short distance away behind the skeleton and at a slightly higher level, although the absence of stratigraphical detail means that its precise relationship with the burial is unknown. The clayey soil around the skeleton bore impressions of textiles, suggesting that the body had been clothed or wrapped in "coarsely woven material". Apparently impressions of this material continued beyond the head, and included the area containing the beads and other items behind the head. Traces of wood were also noted around the head, but the full extent and purpose of this wood was not clear. Other finds from the barrow, but not associated with the grave, included some worked flints, a small fragment of a stone axehead, possibly greenstone, and some animal bones. Some 9 feet due south of the skeleton, and 1 ft 2 in below the surface of the barrow, was a Collared Urn, apparently originally standing upright, but with no sign of any cremation deposit. All the surviving finds from the barrow are in Devizes Museum. (2-9) |