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Summary

A ring cairn 8.0 metres diameter with a bank about 2.0 metres wide and 0.3 metres high with a small central mound was recorded in 1980. Excavations in 2009 showed the cairn to comprised a circle of 21 conjoined pits, 4.0 metres diameter which would have fitted inside the bank of the ring cairn. The bank is thought therefore to have eroded away and the central mound accounted for by a slight rise. Charcoal from the fill of one of the pits provided a calibrated radiocarbon date of 2461-2204BC.
The cairn was not visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs or lidar derived images.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX55NE/24

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RING CAIRN (LANEBA to Early Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 1501 BC)

Full description

RCHM APP 1985, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV169315.

Not visible on raf 1946 ap (rchm app 1985).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV169316.

Des=worksheet.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV169317.

Des=two photos by t. Greeves(26/11/1980)in parish file.

Taylor, D., 1993, Prestonbury Castle (Worksheet). SDV1142.

Vis=3/3/1980 (greeves,t. Dcc). Ring cairn on s. W. End of headon down. Diameter 8.0m, bank about 2.0m across and approx 0.3m high. Small central mound. Cairn currently heather-covered. A line of modern trenches runs nearby.(worksheet).

Exeter Archaeology, 2007, Archaeological Evaluation of Land at South Tip, Headon China Clay Works, Lee Moor, Sparkwell, 1, Fig. 2 (Report - Evaluation). SDV344610.

Dyer, M. + Quinnell, H., 2013, Excavation of a Group of Early Bronze Age Monuments on Headon Down, Sparkwell, 65-68, 73-78 (Article in Serial). SDV357032.

A ring cairn with an overall diameter of 8.0 metres comprising a bank 2.0 metres across and 0.3 metres high with a small central mound was recorded at this location in 1980. However, although a roughly circular mound was located, excavations in 2009 in advance of the expansion of Headon South tip found no evidence of a bank. A trench across the site of the mound revealed either side of what proved on full excavation to be a circle of 21 conjoined pits, 4.0 metres in diameter. The pit circle enclosed an area of 2.8 metres in diameter which was devoid of features and it is suggested that the mound observed prior to excavation is best accounted for by a slight natural rise.
The best-preserved examples of the pits (611, 620, 643, 658, 661) were between 0.46 metres and 0.6 metres diameter and 0.25 metres to 0.3 metres deep. The pits were generally steep-sided with flat or very slightly concave bases and contained two fills. Charcoal from the primary fill of pit 646 provided a calibrated radiocarbon date of 2461-2204BC.
At 4.0 metres diameter, the pit circle would fit inside the bank of the ring cairn recorded in 1980 and it is suggested that it had been damaged by surface attrition prior to the excavation in 2009.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

The cairn was not identified as an earthwork on any aerial photographic sources or digital images derived from lidar data captured in 2013 consulted by the survey.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4703 - Archaeological Evaluation of Land at South Tip, Headon China Clay Works, Lee Moor, Sparkwell
• EDV6559 - Excavation of a Group of Early Bronze Age Monuments on Headon Down
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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