Alternative name | Bath Tumulus and Wellow Tumulus |
---|---|
Location | near Wellow |
Region | Somerset, England |
Coordinates | 51°18′48″N2°22′54″W / 51.31335°N 2.38168°W Coordinates: 51°18′48″N2°22′54″W / 51.31335°N 2.38168°W |
Type | Chambered long barrow |
History | |
Periods | Neolithic |
Site notes | |
Condition | intact |
Public access | yes |
The Stoney Littleton Long Barrow (also known as the Bath Tumulus and the Wellow Tumulus) is a Neolithic chambered tomb with multiple burial chambers, located near the village of Wellow in the English county of Somerset. It is an example of the Cotswold-Severn Group and was scheduled as an ancient monument in 1882. It was one of the initial monuments included when the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 became law. [1]
The chambered long barrow was built around 3500 BC. Excavations in the early 19th century uncovered bones from several individuals. The stone structure is about 30 metres (98 ft) in length and contains a 12.8 metres (42 ft) long gallery with three pairs of side chambers and an end chamber.
The barrow is approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) south west of the village of Wellow. It is on a limestone ridge overlooking Wellow Brook approximately 200 metres (660 ft) to the north and west of the barrow. [2] It is surrounded by a rectangular grass area accessed via a stile and footpath from a car park at Stoney Littleton Farm. [3]
Chambered long barrows were constructed during the Neolithic between 4000 and 2500 BC for the ritual inhumation of the dead. [4] Stoney Littleton Long Barrow was probably constructed around 3500 BC. [5]
The tomb was first opened around 1760 by a local farmer to obtain stone for road building. [5] [6] The site was excavated by John Skinner and Richard Hoare in 1816-17, along with a labourer Zebedee Weston, [7] who gained the entry through the hole which was made previously. [4] The excavation revealed the bones (some burned) of several individuals. [5] The mound was restored in 1858 by Thomas Joliffe. [2] Some of the artefacts from the excavations are in the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery. [3]
It was scheduled as an ancient monument in 1882. [8] Since 1884 the Stoney Littleton Long Barrow has been in state care, [8] and is now managed by English Heritage who have provided an information board at the site. [5] Further conservation work and a geophysical survey were carried out in 1999 and 2000 by the Cotswold Archaeological Trust. [2]
Severn-Cotswold tombs consist of precisely-built, long trapezoid earth mounds covering a burial chamber. [9] The Stoney Littleton Long Barrow stands on a limestone ridge overlooking Wellow Brook and the village of Wellow. [10] It is constructed from stone, including Blue Lias and Forest Marble quarried within an 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) radius. [2] [3] [5]
It is about 30 metres (98 ft) in length and 15 metres (49 ft) wide at the south-east end, it stands nearly 3 metres (10 ft) high. [8] Internally it consists of a 12.8 metres (42 ft) long gallery with three pairs of side chambers and an end chamber. [4] The passage and entrance are roughly aligned towards the midwinter sunrise. [11] The roof is made of overlapping stones. [12] There is a fossil ammonite impression decorating the left-hand doorjamb. [13] [14]
Unusually, the barrow is not situated on flat ground and "looks as though it is sliding down the side of a hill." [3]
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
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A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one family or social group and were often used over long periods for multiple burials.
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Dowth is a Neolithic passage tomb located in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. It is one of the three principal tombs of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site – a landscape of prehistoric monuments including the large passage-tombs of Dowth, Newgrange and Knowth. Unlike Newgrange and Knowth, Dowth has not been independently dated, but its features align it with the other passage tombs which date from between approximately 3200 and 2900 BC. However, Harbison (1970) dates the tomb at 2500 – 2000 BC. It is less developed as a tourist attraction than its neighbours, partly because the chamber is much lower, and partly because the decoration is less visible. It was partly excavated, in 1847 by the Royal Irish Academy who dynamited the roof causing the still visible crater, though it was pillaged by Vikings and earlier looters long before that.
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Windmill Tump, also known as Rodmarton Chambered Tomb, is a Neolithic burial site, a stone tumulus or barrow. It is a mound covering the site of graves, in the form of a cairn, located in Gloucestershire. It lies to the west of the village of Rodmarton, south of the road between Cherington and Tarlton. There are trees growing on the site.
51.71025°N 2.29970°W
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