Record Details
| NHER Number: | 52488 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Site of possible Bronze Age ring ditch |
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Summary
A possible ring ditch, which if genuine is likely to mark the site of a Bronze Age round barrow, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It lies in an area of known prehistoric and funerary activity, on the eastern edge of what appears to have been a dispersed barrow cemetery (NHER 53403); this occupies much of a west-facing slope overlooking the confluence of the rivers Yare and Tas. Several elements of the cemetery have been subject to excavation, demonstrating the presence of at least three barrows of late Neolithic to early Bronze Age date. The ring ditch described here could be similar in both date and function, although the fact that it is visible (and only partially visible) on photographs taken in a single year, and the rather unclear nature of the cropmarks, makes its identification as an archaeological feature uncertain; in could instead be a mark of natural or recent agricultural origin.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2433 0546 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG20NW |
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| Parish: | BIXLEY, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
March 2010. Norfolk NMP.
A possible ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 2433 0546. If it is a genuine archaeological feature, the site could represent the plough-levelled remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, part of a dispersed cemetery (NHER 53403), the remainder of which is visible to the west. Parts of this cemetery were excavated in advance of the construction of the Norwich Southern Bypass, demonstrating that it contained at least three ring ditches which were used for cremation and inhumation burials between the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (S3). The ring ditch described here could be similar in both date and function, although the fact that it is visible (and only partially visible) on photographs taken in a single year, and the rather unclear nature of the cropmarks, makes its identification as an archaeological feature uncertain; it could instead be a mark of natural or recent agricultural origin, other marks of this type being visible in the area.
The postulated ring ditch seems to be roughly circular or perhaps oval in plan, with a diameter of 32.5m. A possible much smaller internal concentric ring ditch is also visible; this is also circular or oval in plan and has a diameter of 9m. The contrast between the larger outer ditch and small inner is directly comparable to another barrow in the group, NHER 52483.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 5 March 2010.
Monument Types
- RING DITCH? (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- ROUND BARROW? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1990. NHER TG 2405ACH-J (NLA 262/GAD11-2) 13-JUN-1990. |
| <S2> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1990. NHER TG 2405ACU-V (NLA 265/GAY5-6) 20-JUN-1990. |
| <S3> | Monograph: Ashwin, T. and Bates S. 2000. Norwich Southern Bypass, Part I: Excavations at Bixley, Caistor St Edmund, Trowse. East Anglian Archaeology. No 91. |
Related records
| 53403 | Part of: Site of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age barrow cemetery (Monument) |