A bell barrow, sometimes referred to as a Wessex type barrow, campanulate form barrow, or a bermed barrow, is a type of

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

identified as such by both

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

and

William Stukeley William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...

In the United Kingdom, they take the form of a circular mound or mounds within a circular ditch, the mounds being separated from the ditch and each other by a

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of Soil compaction, compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a b ...

. There is sometimes present an additional bank, external to the ditch. The ditch is typically the source of the material used to create the mound and is therefore described as a "quarry-ditch". A burial pit beneath the mound usually contains human remains, sometimes cremated, sometimes simply interred. Grave goods such as daggers or pottery vessels are commonly found within the burial pit also. An example at Sutton Veny included a bronze-age wooden coffin. The bell barrow in

Milton Lilbourne Milton Lilbourne is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, in the Vale of Pewsey between Pewsey and Burbage, Wiltshire, Burbage. It is largely a mixed residential area centred on the Manor. Th ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

has no burial associated with it.English Heritage National Monuments Record: Monument No. 918833
Most bell barrows in the United Kingdom date to the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Leslie Grinsell constructed a typology for bell barrows: * Type Ia: A single mound with a narrow berm * Type Ib: A single mound with a normal berm * Type Ic: A single mound with a wide berm * Type II: Two mounds * Type III: Three mounds * Type IV: Four mounds

References

External links

{{commonscat, Bell barrows
Bell Barrows monument class description
– English Heritage, archived August 2004 Bronze Age England Types of monuments and memorials Barrows in England

See also

References

External links