Monument record 3548 - Bronze Age barrow and enclosure, Earls Barton Quarry

Excavation of a barrow undertaken in 1969 prior to quarrying. The barrow had a diameter of 27 m with a berm 10 m wide and a surrounding ditch 50 m in diam. and 1.7 m deep. No trace of a burial was found, and only an area of burning, perhaps from a funeral pyre, was discovered on the ground surface which was radiocarbon dated to 1500BC. A bronze ogival Wessex-type dagger with a central midrib (CamertonSnowshill Group) was found within the mound. A rectangular enclosure and a ditch system impinged on the barrow but neither could be dated.

{1} Bell barrow and enclosure. The barrow had a diameter of 27m with a berm 10m wide and a surrounding ditch 50m in diameter and 1.7m deep. It was completely excavated in 1969 before destruction. No trace of a burial was found, and only an area of burning, perhaps from a funeral pyre, was discovered on the ground surface. Radio Carbon dates for this burnt area were 1219 and 1264 bc, a calendar date of perhaps 1500 BC. A bronze ogival Wessex-type dagger with a central midrib (Camerton-Snowshill Group) was found within the mound. A rectangular enclosure and a ditch system impinged on the barrow but neither could be dated.

{3} A mound situated on low lying alluvial clay was excavated ahead of gravel quarrying. It was found to be an early Bronze Age bell barrow, with a ditch almost 6ft deep surrounding an area 130ft in diameter. The eroded shape of the mound extended to the ditch and was standing to a height of 4ft 6in. Gravel extracted from the ditch was found round the edge of a mound constructed of turf and clay. This was approximately 70ft in diameter thus indicating a wide berm between barrow and ditch.
A square-ish area 25-30ft across and centred slightly south-west of the centre of the barrow, had a scatter of charcoal with a few larger pieces of burnt oak (possibly pieces of plank) lying on a fire-reddened pre-barrow surface.
The only funerary evidence found was a bronze ogival dagger of Wessex II type associated with a small amount of cremated bone, which had become scattered by burrowing animals. This was found 5ft north-east of the centre of the barrow and 9in above the pre-barrow surface.
Dating evidence is supported by early Bronze Age pottery and flints, found in and below the body of the mound. Other flat bottomed ditches in the immediate area have been seen as quarrying has progressed, possibly indicating settlement here despite its low lying position. Finds from the barrow suggest that this may have had a Neolithic origin.

{4} Bell Barrow. Patch of buring in centre of barrow may have signified burning off vegetation before the mound was constructed. No central burial cut but a little burnt bone in association with bronze dagger may have been the burial. 4 pits were also recorded under the burial mound. Two radiocarbon samples date the pre barrow burning as 1) 1219 BC + or - 51 and 2) 1264 BC + or - 64.

The bell barrow mound survived to a height of just over 1.5m. The ditch surrounded a circular area 39m in diameter and was 1.8m deep and 3.35m wide. The profile of the ditch was U shaped.Patch of buring in centre of barrow may have signified burning off vegitation before the mound was constructed. No central burial cut but a little burnt bone in association with bronze dagger may have been the burial. 4 pits were also recorded under the burial mound.Some Bronze Age pottery and flints were found. Two carbon 14 samples date the pre barrow burning as:-1) 1219 BC + or - 51;2) 1264 BC + or - 64;This barrow produced the first radiocarbon dating for the Wessex culture. The pieces of collared and globular urn found in the barrow mound could be broadly contemporary with its construction. The radioarbon dates provide an adequate terminus post quem for the construction of the barrow.

A small V shaped ditch intersected with the barrow ditch in its northern sector and may have been open at the same time.

In two areas near the barrow, the ground level was about 300mm higher than the surrounding alluvium. No ditches located. The features clearly pre-date the alluvial clay but it is uncertain if they were man made.
Enclosure was adjacent to bell barrow. The relationship between the barrow and enclosure is uncertain but it seems likely that the former is primary. The area enclosed was on average 70.1m across and roughly square, with an entrance centrally placed onlong the south-east side. No internal features which may have indicated occupation were noted during the process.Ditch was up to 2.13m deep and 4.27m wide was V shaped in profile, with a gently rounded base. The upcast had been thrown up on the inside from whence it had eroded back into the ditch. Waterlogged from the start? Twigs and branches were preserved in the blue-black clay lower fill.Only one sherd of late Bronze Age pottery was found in the fill of ditch.

South of the excavated barrow, two roughly parallel ditches between 1.8m and 4.2m apart were traced for a distance of 140.2m without any major change of alignment. Both ditches averaged 1.5m in depth and had round-bottomed profiles. No dating evidence was recorded but where the ditches intercepted enclosure A they seemed to cut it (later than).

{6} A squarish area 7.62m by 9.14m, centred slightly south-west of the centre of the barrow had a scatter of charcoal lying over a fire-reddened surface. No postholes were found to indicate that the burnt area had been the site of a structure and the size of the burnt area would appear uncommonly big if explained as a funeral pyre. Was it burning off of vegetation before the mound was constructed? Two C14 datings from this obtained the dates: i. 1219 BC +/- 51 and ii. 1264 BC +/- 64.

{8} (SP87056275) B A barrow excavated by D Jackson for MOW - Winter 1968/69 in advance of gravel digging. The only find was a bronze Wessex Dagger.

{9} Mound only seen as a light grey patch with a slight ring cropmark to the east.

{10} Barrow destroyed and site worked for gravel. D Jackson states that a square of burnt timber measuring 5ft x 5ft (probably a cremation platform) was found about 18in under the dagger. Dated by C14 to MBA 2.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.39/Site 2 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

<2> 1972, CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY, 32/238-41 (Journal). SNN30732.

<3> Jackson D., 1970, Fieldwork and Excavation in North Eastern Northamptonshire, p.47 (unchecked) (Article). SNN4821.

<4> Jackson D.A., 1984, The Excavation of a Bronze Age Barrow at Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, p.8 (unchecked) (Article). SNN40182.

<5> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<6> 1971, CBA INDEX TO RADIOCARBON DATES, (unchecked) (Index). SNN43839.

<7> Ministry of Public Buildings & Works, 1970, Archaeological Excavations, 1969, p. 10 (Report). SNN47013.

<8> Northampton Museum 6 Inch Map (Map). SNN10162.

<9> Aerial Photograph, APs F22 543/RAF/943 45 & 46 3.6.60 (Photographs). SNN112974.

<10> Colquhoun, FD, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F1 FDC 08-OCT-70 (Notes). SNN111540.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 7:46PM