A group of five or more closely spaced prehistoric round barrows. The spacing of barrows within a round barrow cemetery varies considerably, but few barrows will be over 150m from their nearest neighbour; most will be less than 100m apart. The largest cemeteries contain up to about 30 barrows. Round barrow cemeteries may be recognized as groups of upstanding barrows, ring-ditches, or a combination of the two. The tradition of constructing round barrow cemeteries seems to have spanned most of the Bronze Age, broadly 2000 to 700 BC. Some round barrow cemeteries contain or lie adjacent to earlier monuments, usually Neolithic long barrows or oval barrows, but there is no evidence that when these monuments were built they comprised part of a cemetery. The length of time over which individual round barrow cemeteries were used varied enormously, although as a general rule the larger cemeteries are also the longest-lived.
Manuscript plan of 1740 of the Bronze Age linear barrow cemetery on Rushford Downs, Brettenham.