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Cairn with a cist, one of several on the western edge of Lee Moor

A Scheduled Monument in Shaugh Prior, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4617 / 50°27'42"N

Longitude: -3.994 / 3°59'38"W

OS Eastings: 258565.236769

OS Northings: 64334.387253

OS Grid: SX585643

Mapcode National: GBR Q3.1CW7

Mapcode Global: FRA 27JT.V4S

Entry Name: Cairn with a cist, one of several on the western edge of Lee Moor

Scheduled Date: 28 November 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012051

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10641

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Shaugh Prior

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Details

Many examples of Prehistoric funerary monuments are preserved on Dartmoor,
mostly dating to the Bronze Age (c.2500 - 500 BC). To celebrate or
commemorate the dead, mounds of earth or stone were piled in a roughly
hemispherical shape over the burial, which was sometimes contained in a
small rectangular structure, or cist, made of stone slabs. Some monuments
also include kerbstones marking the outer edge of the mound and a
surrounding ditch.
This cairn with a cist lies on a west-facing slope at the western end of Lee
Moor, close to another cairn and is one of several on this part of Lee Moor.
It is built of a few large stones without much earth or turf cover and is 3m
in diameter and 0.3m in height. It lies in an area with a lot of surface
boulders, making it difficult to locate. The cist consists of both end and
side slabs rather irregularly positioned and c.0.8m in length and 0.6m in
width with a depth of 0.3m. The coverstone is missing.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in Southern Britain and
because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most
complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The
great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct
evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early Prehistoric
period onwards.
The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites,
major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well
as later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive
changes in the pattern of land use through time.
Although the coverstone is missing, this cairn with a cist is relatively well-
preserved and part of a well-preserved group. Its relationship to several
other cairns in the area indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the
ritual side of Prehistoric life on this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
SX56SE-22,

Source: Historic England

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