Monument record 1765/1/1 - Bronze Age barrow mound and ditches (Barrow 1), Irthlingborough

A multi-phase Bronze Age round barrow at Irthlingborough, excavated in 1985-6 as part of the Raunds Area Project. The barrow comprised three concentric ring ditches, measuring 15, 24 and 32 metres in diameter. Each additional ditch appears to have been accompanied by enlargement of the central barrow mound. When excavated, the mound survived only to a height of 0.3 metres. The primary burial deposit comprised a timber structure within a pit, which contained a Beaker inhumation. The structure was subsequently roofed with timber and covered with a cairn of limestone slabs. This cairn also included the skulls of at least 184 domestic cattle and one aurochs. A small number of pig, sheep/goat and dog bones were also present. Radiocarbon dates concentrate mainly in the 2nd half of the 3rd millennium BC. The next phase involved the construction of the first mound. The primary inhumation consisted of a partly disarticulated male skeleton accompanied by three bone spatulae, a Beaker, a flint dagger plus knives and scrapers, five jet buttons, a stone wristguard, two "sponge finger" stones, an amber ring and a boar's tusk. Another adult inhumation, possibly contemporary with the primary deposit, was found off-centre beneath the mound in a pit. It was accompanied by a bone pin. Other secondary burials include two cremations, one beneath an urn, located centrally - one associated with a bronze dagger; two more cremations on the periphery of the mound; and three further cremations to the southeast of the monument.

{2} Trial excavation in 1985 of a mound and two encircling ring ditches, to assess the nature of this possible barrow and its environmental potential. The excavation consisted of trial trenches and soil test pits in a sample area. There was good barrow survival despite the site being affected by Romano-British ploughing. Circa 160 flints were recovered. Contour plan; first identified by D Hall. Plans and sections.
No structural elements such as postholes, stake circles etc were evident; it is likely it was originally a simple turf stack.

{3} The earliest activity was the primary burial placed in a pit. An almost intact, circular, limestone cairn overlay the primary burial. No structure was apparent. The cairn (diameter c 4.5m, maximum height 0.25m) was mostly constructed using slabs of local limestone. Cow skull fragments both overlay the cairn and formed an integral part of its structure. Soil from the underlying grave pit was also used to make up the cairn. It is uncertain if the cairn was exposed prior to construction of the earth mound. The centre of the cairn had collapsed into the underlying grave pit

About 1000 fragments of animal bone, mostly cattle skulls in poor condition and extremely friable, were recovered during excavation of the cairn. A brief examination of the bone shows that a minimum of 109 cattle are represented. The majority of jaws were from adult animals, tentatively identified as at least three years old.

Directly beneath the cairn was a large grave pit, 2.65m x 2.1m and 0.8m-0.9m deep. A burial with grave goods was laid centrally on the floor of the pit and a 'coffin' or timber structure was preserved as carbonised remains, c.2m x c 0.7m and c.0.65m deep. It may originally have been a mortuary consisting of a (?) lined pit 'roofed' by timber beams. When the roof decayed, stone and bone from the cairn collapsed into the grave. The partially disarticulated skeleton of an adult lay in a crouched position on its left side with head to the south-west. The bone was not well preserved. It is unclear whether the burial was originally disarticulated or subsequently disturbed as might happen if the 'coffin' was left open for a period. It should be noted, however, that the grave goods were intact.

A large number and variety of grave goods at the feet comprised: three spatulae of animal rib bones, up to 0.4m long; five conical jet/shale buttons with V-perforations; a finely flaked flint dagger, 165mm long; a bifacially flaked triangular arrowhead (? a blank for a barbed and tanged arrowhead); nine flint flakes in fresh condition, some retouched as knives and scrapers; a long necked beaker; an amber ring, inner diameter c 17mm; a D-sectioned rod (? sponge finger stone) of uncertain material; a whetstone; a re-used wristguard, worn and rounded at one end; and a boar's tusk. The tight grouping of the grave goods suggests that they may have been wrapped. The objects represent a craftsman's kit and archer-equipment, and suggest a male burial. Two pig bones had also been deposited in the grave.

The well preserved skeleton of an adult, possibly contemporary with the primary burial, was found 4.5m NNE of the centre in a deep, steep-sided, pear-shaped grave, 1.63m x 1.15m (max) and 0.85m deep. It, too, lay in a crouched position on its left side, but the head was at the north-west overlying the hands. A bone pin (length 88mm, tip damaged) was found close by the hands.

The eroded barrow mound contained several thousand artefacts. Seven barbed and tanged arrowheads were found and some may represent deliberate deposits. The periphery of the ploughed mound overlay the outer ditch. Ploughing had truncated all layers above the old ground surface. Less than 0.3m of the mound was preserved. Its core consisted of a virtually pebble-free, sandy loam which overlay the primary burial. The original barrow probably consisted of an earthen mound of topsoil overlain by a gravel capping, or with gravel around the perimeter.

Three ring ditches denote successive enlargements of the monument. Their irregular outline resulted from changes in the subsoil and the use of ‘task-segments'. The inner ring ditch (diameter 15m, depth 0.9m), had initially silted naturally from both sides, but thereafter a gravelly layer slumped into the ditch from the interior. The inner ditch is contemporary with the primary burial and the formation of a soil in its top suggests that a considerable time elapsed before the next ditch was dug. The middle ring ditch (diameter 24m, depth 1.05m) was slightly eccentric to the inner ditch. At first this ditch silted naturally from both sides. The outer ring ditch (diameter 32m, average depth 0.9m) was concentric to the middle ditch. The edges were much weathered and the ditch had silted naturally, mostly from the inside. Gravel from the digging of this ditch was used to infill the middle ditch. Though ploughing had truncated layers, it appears that the area between the two ditches was embanked.

{?} earthwork; round barrow; 150ft in diameter; undisturbed by ploughing; situated at SP962713

{5} Analysis on the teeth enamel from the cattle has revealed that most of the cattle grazed and lived near their final resting place, even if only for a few month. This indicates that cattle were traded over long distances but were probably not bought for immediate slaughter as tokens to the deceased.

{8} Radiocarbon dates of the primary burial and oak structure are statistically consistent and, together with others from overlying layers, allow the construction date to be estimated as 2140–1800 cal BC at 95 % probability.

{10} Five very large cattle teeth and a large horn core (possibly all from the same skull) belonged to the aurochs or wild cattle. Two scapulae may also have been from an aurochs. Other animals, apart from cattle, include at least three pigs, two sheep/goat, a single canid (?dog) and a single equid (horse).

{11} Strontium ratio analysis of the cattle and aurochs bone indicates that most of the specimens had local origins, although one animal appears to have been born remotely, most likely in Western Britain.

{12} Comparison of the burial deposit to a Homeric hecatomb- the slaughter of a hundred oxen.

<1> HALL D.N.; HUTCHINGS J.B., 1972, The Distribution of Archaeological Sites Between The Nene and The Ouse Valleys, p.14 Site 8 (checked) (Article). SNN35780.

<2> Garwood, P., 1985, Irthlingborough Barrow Group 1985: A Summary Interim Assessment of the 1985 Survey, and Proposals For Future Work, (checked) (Interim Report). SNN46797.

<3> Dix B. (editor), 1986-7, The Raunds Area Project: Second Interim Report, 21/5 (checked) (Article). SNN76070.

<4> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<5> Davis S.; Payne S., 1993, A Barrow Full of Cattle Skulls, p.12-22 (unchecked) (Report). SNN106085.

<6> SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, 2009, SALON (Society of Antiquaries Newsletter), (checked) (Extract). SNN106890.

<7> Harding, J. and Healy, F., 2008, The Raunds Area Project: A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire (Report). SNN106245.

<8> Harding, J. and Healy, F., 2011, The Raunds Area Project: A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire Volume 2 Supplementary Studies, p. 158-184 (Report). SNN108037.

<9> Henderson, J, 1988, Two skeletons from Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN113426.

<10> Davis, S J M, 1989, The animal remains from Barrow 1 at Irthlingborough (early Bronze Age), Northamptonshire: 1986 excavations (Report). SNN115258.

<11> Towers, J, Montgomery, J Evans, J, Jay, M, & Pearson, M P, 2010, An investigation of the origins of cattle and aurochs deposited in the Early bronze Age barrows at Gayhurst and Irthlingborough, p. 508-515 (Article). SNN116229.

<12> Halpin, C., 1987, Irthlingborough, p. 331-3 (Article). SNN116231.

<13> Historic England, West Cotton (Photographs) (Archive). SNN116420.

Record last edited

Jul 3 2025 11:11AM