Scheduled Ancient Monument: BOWL BARROW 720M NORTH EAST OF EAST FARM (31108)

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on ground which slopes to the north west and is situated towards the north west corner of a field which was formerly part of Barnham Heath. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound which stands to a height of about 0.6m and covers a roughly circular area measuring about 38m in diameter. In 1955 A R Edwardson excavated a trench through the mound and found some post holes which were `slightly off centre'. It is thought that the mound is encircled by a ditch with an estimated width of 3m, from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow. The mound has been spread by cultivation, and it is thought that the buried ditch will survive beneath the mound. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Although the bowl barrow 720m north east of East Farm has been reduced in height and spread by ploughing, the base of the mound, the soils buried beneath the mound and the fill of the buried ditch surrounding it will retain archaeological information concerning its construction and the manner and duration of its use, in addition to the evidence for a timber structure recorded in the limited investigation of the mound by A R Edwardson. Evidence for the local environment is also likely to be preserved in these deposits. The proximity of this barrow to a number of other barrows in this part of the Breckland region gives it additional interest. Together these barrows give some evidence of the character, development and density of the prehistoric population in this area.