Badshot Lea Long Barrow facts for kids
The Badshot Lea Long Barrow was an ancient burial mound located near Badshot Lea village in Surrey, England. It was built around 4,000 to 4,500 years ago, during Britain's Early Neolithic period. This was a time when farming was just starting in Britain, brought over by communities from Europe.
Archaeologists believe this monument was created by early farmers and herders. While many similar long barrows exist across Neolithic Europe, the Badshot Lea Long Barrow is the only one known in Surrey. The closest ones are the Medway Megaliths in Kent and other long barrows in Sussex.
The long barrow was made of earth, with a large mound (called a tumulus) and ditches on its sides. A wooden post likely stood at its eastern end. By the 1930s, much of the barrow had been damaged by chalk quarrying nearby. In 1936, a local person, W. F. Rankine, found ox bones and stone arrowheads in the area. This led to an archaeological dig led by Alexander Keiller and Stuart Piggott. They wanted to study the barrow before it was completely destroyed by more quarrying.
Contents
What Was the Badshot Lea Long Barrow?
The Badshot Lea Long Barrow was a type of ancient monument called an "unchambered long barrow." This means it was a long, raised mound of earth, but it didn't have stone chambers inside for burials like some other barrows. It was probably used for rituals or as a burial place for early farming communities.
Where Was It Found?
This ancient site, sometimes called Farnham Long Barrow, was located near Badshot Farm in Runfold, Surrey. It sat on a hill called the Hog's Back, looking over the Blackwater area. It was about 85 metres (280 ft) above sea level.
Archaeologists find the Badshot Lea Long Barrow special because it's quite far from other known long barrows. Most other similar sites are in places like Kent or Hampshire. This makes the Surrey example quite unique for the area.
How Was It Built?
The Badshot Lea Long Barrow was an earthen long barrow, meaning it was made mostly of soil and chalk. By the time archaeologists studied it in the 1930s, the main mound had been almost completely flattened. This was due to farming over many years and a lot of it being dug away by quarrying.
The archaeologists estimated the mound was about 43 metres (140 ft) long. It was probably taller at its eastern end. No human bones were found during the excavation.
The mound had long, flat-bottomed ditches on its northern and southern sides. The chalk dug from these ditches was likely used to build up the mound. The northern ditch was about 35 metres (116 ft) long and varied in depth. Most of the southern ditch was destroyed by quarrying, so its full size isn't known.
At the eastern end, the ditches didn't meet, leaving a gap of about 12 metres (40 ft). In the middle of this gap, archaeologists found a small hole in the ground. This hole would have held a wooden post. Experts believe this post was part of the original monument and was likely used for a special ritual, not for holding up the structure.
What Did They Find?
During the excavation, archaeologists found several interesting items:
- Pottery: Small pieces of plain pottery were found in the ditches. These were from the "Neolithic A" period. Later, they found more pottery, including pieces of a black pot and a pale pot. Some pottery was even from the Early Bronze Age, showing the site was used or visited later.
- Mortlake Ware: Many pieces of a specific type of pottery called Mortlake Ware were found in the northern ditch. These pieces belonged to one large pot with a unique design. It had twisted cord patterns and criss-cross lines.
- Tools and Bones: They also found a broken, polished flint axe and three stone scrapers. In the northern ditch, two flint arrowheads were discovered. One was leaf-shaped and whole, the other was broken. These arrowheads were found with bones from oxen and antlers from red deer.
Scientists used Radiocarbon dating on some of the bones. This helped them figure out the age of the site, giving dates around 2650 BCE and 2470 BCE.
How Was It Investigated?
Before 1936, a lot of the Badshot Lea Long Barrow had been dug away by a chalk quarry. That year, the quarry planned to expand, which would destroy what was left. W. F. Rankine, a local resident, explored the area and found ox bones and two stone arrowheads.
Rankine told W. G. Lowther, a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London, about his finds. Lowther visited the site and realized it was important. He contacted the Morven Institute of Archaeological Research, which organized an excavation.
The dig was led by Alexander Keiller and Stuart Piggott. They were helped by Lowther and a team of workers paid for by the Surrey Archaeological Society. The owner of Badshot Farm, Mr. Tice, allowed the excavation and even delayed the quarrying so the archaeologists had time to work.
At first, the archaeologists thought they were looking at a different type of ancient site because only the ditches were clear. But as they dug, they realized the ditches had once surrounded a long barrow that was now mostly gone.
Keiller and Piggott wrote a detailed report about their findings. This report was published in 1939 by the Surrey Archaeological Society. Some of the pottery found at the site was given to Guildford Borough Council and put on display in Guildford Museum. Later, in the 1980s, some of the animal bones from the dig were tested again using radiocarbon dating to get more precise dates.
Images for kids
-
Finds from the excavation of the long barrow have been placed on display in Guildford Museum
