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Round cairn 25m south of Langstone Moor stone circle

A Scheduled Monument in Peter Tavy, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.5853 / 50°35'6"N

Longitude: -4.0409 / 4°2'27"W

OS Eastings: 255613.039066

OS Northings: 78159.130862

OS Grid: SX556781

Mapcode National: GBR Q0.DKV0

Mapcode Global: FRA 27FJ.7JR

Entry Name: Round cairn 25m south of Langstone Moor stone circle

Scheduled Date: 10 February 1993

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1007551

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20381

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Peter Tavy

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Details

This monument includes a round cairn situated prominently on a hill crest
overlooking the valley of the river Walkham. The cairn mound measures 4.2m in
diameter and stands up to 0.35m high. Excavations by the Dartmoor Exploration
Committee in 1901 revealed a pit below the mound, but no artefacts.

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. Round cairns are prehistoric funerary
monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, the latter predominating in areas of upland Britain
where such raw materials were locally available in abundance. Round cairns may
cover single or multiple burials and are sometimes surrounded by an outer
ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in
the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a
monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and
social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are
particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of
surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Dartmoor provides one
of the best preserved and most dense concentrations of round cairns in south-
western Britain.

Despite partial excavation, the round cairn 25m south of Langstone Moor stone
circle survives well and contains archaeological and environmental evidence
relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. It
may be contemporary with the nearby stone circle and thus form part of a
larger ritual complex, which extends over a wide area and may have
associations with the stone hut circle settlement situated a short distance to
the south.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Worth, R H, 'Devonshire Association Transactions' in Twenty-First Report of the Barrow Committee, , Vol. 34, (1902), 111
Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX57NE54,

Source: Historic England

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