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| HER Number: | 16048.10 |
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| Name: | CAER BRAN - Bronze Age cairn, Bronze Age hillfort |
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Summary
It has been proposed that the inner rampart of Caer Bran is a Bronze Age enclosure or large ring cairn.
Protected Status
- Scheduled Monument CO98: Caer Bran
Other References/Statuses
- Heritage at Risk (National): English Heritage, South West
- Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 16048.10
Monument Type(s):
- CAIRN? (Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 801 BC)
- HILLFORT? (Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 801 BC)
Full description
Lawson-Jones and Herring (b2) concluded that the inner rampart at Caer Bran was a Bronze Age hilltop enclosure or large ring cairn, with up to three possible small ring cairns set within (.2, .3, .4). The external rampart was seen as representing a later phase of activity when the site was re-constructed as an Iron Age hillfort (.5), its single rampart concentric with and respecting the earlier ring cairn. This would help to explain the very marked contrast between the inner and outer ramparts which is very apparent on the air photos (see especially CAU/ABP/F40/119).
Borlase's C18 sketch shows a marked difference in the construction of the internal and external ramparts, and shows the central cairn very clearly. He describes the outer rampart as "a massive earth vallum", while the inner rampart "seems to have been of considerable strength, but now lies like a ridge of disorderly stones". Today the internal stone wall has been almost totally robbed out, surviving in only four short stretches with faint traces of 6.0m to 9.0m wide external ditches.
Although the site has never been excavated a soil sample from beneath the outer rampart showed a disturbed profile which might indicate pre-Iron Age activity on site (Christie, 1978, PPS no 44, 309-403).
The monument is included in the Schedule.
Lawson-Jones, A. & Herring, P, 1995, Caer Bran: An Archaeological Assessment (Cornwall Event Report). SCO1538.
<1> Borlase, W, 1769, Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall (Bibliographic reference). SCO2878.
Sources / Further Reading
| --- | SCO1538 - Cornwall Event Report: Lawson-Jones, A. & Herring, P. 1995. Caer Bran: An Archaeological Assessment. |
| [1] | SCO2878 - Bibliographic reference: Borlase, W. 1769. Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall. |
Associated Finds: none recorded
Associated Events
Related records
| 16048 | Part of: CAER BRAN - Bronze Age cairn, Bronze Age hillfort, Iron Age hillfort, Iron Age hut circle (Monument) |
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