Details

The monument comprises a Neolithic long cairn, situated near a scattered group
of round cairns and a hut circle settlement on the wide saddle of Twelve Men's
Moor between Kilmar Tor and the Trewortha Tor-Hawkstor ridge on eastern Bodmin
Moor.
The long cairn survives as a linear mound of well-consolidated heaped rubble,
18.5m long, 3.7m wide and up to 0.8m high. The long axis of the cairn is
orientated almost exactly east-west. The grass-covered mound has stones up to
0.5m across breaking through the turf. It varies little in width, tapering
only slightly before each blunt rounded end, and it has a clear reduction in
height about its centre. Occasional small edge-set stones up to 0.2m high
occur along the sides of the mound, the remains of a perimeter kerb. This
long cairn is centred 57m WSW and 61m SE of two large Bronze Age cairns, the
closest two cairns in the nearby dispersed group.

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

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of
prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human
exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The
well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field
systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains
provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land
use through time.

Long cairns were constructed as elongated rubble mounds and acted as funerary
monuments during the early Neolithic period (c4000-2400 BC). They represent
the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are
amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape.
Where investigated, long cairns appear to have been used for communal burial,
often with only partial human remains selected for interment. Long cairns
sometimes display evidence of internal structural arrangements, including
stone-lined compartments and tomb chambers constructed from massive slabs.
Some examples also show edge-set kerb stones bounding parts of the cairn
perimeter. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary
activity preceding construction of the cairn and consequently it is probable
that long cairns acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a
considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of long cairns and long
barrows, their earthen counterparts in central and eastern England, are
recorded nationally, of which six are known from Bodmin Moor. As one of the
few types of Neolithic structure to survive as a visible monument and due to
their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a
monument type, all long cairns are considered to be nationally important.

The long cairn on Twelve Men's Moor has survived well with no evidence for any
disturbance. Its proximity to a dispersed Bronze Age cairn group demonstrates
well the development of burial practices and the continuity of areas set apart
for funerary monuments during the Earlier Prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013.01 & .02,
9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1425,
consulted 9/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcription for SX 2475,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013.12,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1014,

Source: Historic England