| Summary : An Early Bronze Age round cairn and a round barrow located close to the King Stone, one of the Rollright Stones group of monuments. The round cairn was discovered in 1982 during trenching of a long mound by the Oxford Archaeological Unit. The long mound had been presumed by some to be a Neolithic long barrow, but the excavations proved it to be natural. The cairn had been constructed on top of it, and measured 17 metres in diameter, its edge defined by a kerb of drystone walling. Several cremation deposits were found, with associated radiocarbon dates suggesting an Early Bronze Age origin. At the centre is a cist of large limestone slabs. This was located but not excavated. The round barrow is located at the west end of the long mound, and excavations showed a short length of ditch apparently separating the two features. However, the barrow was not surrounded by a ditch. The mound survived to less than 0.25 metres in height, and little structural evidence survived. Again several secondary cremations, one in a Collared Urn, and their radiocarbon dates pointed to the Early Bronze Age. Traces of a buried soil beneath the barrow contained a group of Mesolithic flints, including bladelets, microliths and an arrowhead. |
More information : (Centred : SP29613098) To the NE of the Rollright Stones, beyond the King Stone, "is a great tumulus or barrow of a long form". It has been much dug away and "`T' is now above 60' in length, 20 in bredth, flattish at top". (The illustration, PI.5, shows it lying apparently E-W with the western end slightly higher than the eastern end, and what appears to be a detached mound at the western end). (1)
The elongated artificial mound which flanks the King Stone "does not answer to any known category of sepulchral tumulus existing in the British Islands. It seems unlikely that it was of sepulchral origin". (2)
"For a long time it has been a subject for debate whether the King Stone is on the side of a natural or artificial hillock. The mound is much like a weathered long barrow running parallel to the road with a height of a few feet above the surrounding land. The space between the stone and the road is occupied by a deep hollow, obviously artificial, and it is evident by comparing it with similar hollows in the neighbourhood that it is an old quarry once used for obtaining road metal. To solve the question of the mound, on the 5th of March 1927, three holes were made in it; one was 33' west of the stone, another 20' east, while a third was dug on the other side of the mound 80' north-north-west. In all of these the undisturbed rock was found at a depth not far from the surface. It seemed evident that the inclination of the strata has caused only a small amount of surface soil to accumulate on the north side while that on the south is considerable. It is in this soil that the King Stone was erected, the base of the stone probably resting against the edge of the strata, which here have a considerable inclination." (3)
The site is now completely under the plough and hardly recognisable. (4)
Excavations c.1982 showed the long mound to be partly natural, although a barrow or "cairn" was discovered to which the natural hillock gave extra prominence. The cairn is well-preserved with slightly curved quarried stone revetments, partly collapsed on the south side but standing up to 0.3m. on the north. A cremation, covered by a small mound of soil and stones, was found on the south side, while on the north side there were burnt stones and a human tooth. Late Neolithic or Bronze Age pottery was found on the surface of the rubble overlying both these deposits. Excavation and air photograph evidence suggest that the cairn is of the late Neolithic or Bronze Age round type and probably dates from after approximately 2500BC. The small round mound at the west end of the long mound was partially excavated (c.1982) and a Bronze Age barbed and tanged arrowhead found. The tumulus itself was almost entirely plouhed out, surviving only as a single thickness of flat stones overlying the original ground surface on the eastern side of the site and its extent was otherwise defined by traces of original soil surviving where it had been protected by the mound. Five cremation deposits were found on the south-west side of the barrow. Beneath was leached soil, probably resulting from late Neolithic forest clearance, and seventy-eighty flint bladelets of probably Mesolithic or early Neolithic date. In the same field various sections of ditch-like features were found, and a more definite small circular feature just north of the Observer Corps shelter by the hedge, which is also visible as a cropmark. (5)
A small scale trial work on the site of the cairn intended to define its shape, examine the central area for signs of a chamber and further assess its presentations was carried out, in 1983. Only the topsoil and other disturbances were excavated. The cairn is circular and has what appears to be an intact chamber or cist. Some disturbance had occured on the east side as a result of the construction of the Royal Observer Corps bunker, but this does not seem to be too serious. (6)
Further excavation of small barrow were of King Stone, first examined in 1982 (site 3 on plan). A note. (7)
Revised scheduling. (8)
The Oxford Archaeological Unit's excavations at the Rollright Stones and neighbouring monuments have been published in full. (9)
The Rollright Trust website has more details on the site. (10)
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