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Summary

Bellever tor. Flint flakes found under a boulder near the summit of the tor. Narrow cleft between two large boulders investigated. On excavation the rock floor of the shelter was found to be 762mm under the grass surface, with the foundation stones of a wall which closed the north west end. Near this wall was a large fire or cooking hole, full of peat, charcoal and ashes, occupying a natural depression in the floor. Flint flake was found on the floor and 66 others on a ledge of rock which ran under the boulder on the south side of the shelter. Entrance protected by a large boulder with a passage on each side. Easily roofed in with thatch of heather or rushes. Earth found on floor was composed of granite grit mixed with black soil, probably from the roof. No wood charcoal or potsherds found. The flints are mainly large thin flakes mostly from chalk, many show the bulb of percussion, a few only have secondary working. Best examples are a skin scraper, a notched scraper and a borer of cherty flint.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW83
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442744
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/70

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FINDSPOT (Prehistoric - 698000 BC to 42 AD)
• PIT (Early Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between))
• ROCK SHELTER (Early Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

National Monuments Record, Untitled Source (National Monuments Record Database). SDV1181.

Bellever tor. Flint flakes found under a boulder near the summit of the tor. Narrow cleft between two large boulders investigated. On excavation the rock floor of the shelter was found to be 762mm under the grass surface, with the foundation stones of a wall which closed the north west end. Near this wall was a large fire or cooking hole, full of peat, charcoal and ashes, occupying a natural depression in the floor. Flint flake was found on the floor and 66 others on a ledge of rock which ran under the boulder on the south side of the shelter. Entrance protected by a large boulder with a passage on each side. Easily roofed in with thatch of heather or rushes. Earth found on floor was composed of granite grit mixed with black soil, probably from the roof. No wood charcoal or potsherds found. The flints are mainly large thin flakes mostly from chalk, many show the bulb of percussion, a few only have secondary working. Best examples are a skin scraper, a notched scraper and a borer of cherty flint. Nmr erroneously ascribe sam no.886 to this site (nmr).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV246013.

Nmr=sx67nw70.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV246014.

Nmr=sx67nw83.

Burnard, R., 1914, 27th Report of the Committee on Scientific Memoranda, 71-2 (Article in Serial). SDV246012.

A rock shelter on Bellaford (Bellever) Tor was excavated in October 1913 by George French and Robert Burnard. It consists of a narrow cleft between two large boulders, pointing north west, situated on the north west slope of the Tor between the summit plateau and a sheer drop of several feet opposite the Powder Mills (SX 644765). The cleft which could easily be roofed, 10 feet long and up to 4 ft wide, had been blocked by a stone wall at its north west end and its entrance protected by a large boulder with passages on both sides. A cooking hole was found in the floor beside a ledge, possibly a seat or shelf, on the south side of the shelter. In this lay sixty six worked flint flakes, some with secondary working, the best being a notched scraper and a borer of cherty flint.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds

• FDV7754 - BORER (Early Neolithic to I - 4000 BC to 25 AD)
• FDV3238 - LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Early Neolithic to I - 4000 BC to 25 AD)
• FDV7755 - SCRAPER (TOOL) (Early Neolithic to I - 4000 BC to 25 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV7388 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7406 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7431 - Woodland Survey (1989-90) at Bellever, Soussons and other woodland parcels
• EDV8489 - Excavation at shelter, Bellever Tor
• EDV8492 - Excavation at shelter, Bellever Tor
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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