Cotswold Severn Tomb

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Scheme Cotswold Severn Tomb - The exedra often consists of "post and panel technique" (post and plate technique)

Cotswold-Severn Tombs ( Welsh Mae beddrodau Hafren-Cotswold or Cotswold-Hafren ) are more than 120 Neolithic megalithic sites under long hills .

The cairns are generally trapezoidal, rarely also rectangular, and have a more or less large indentation, simple or more complex megalithic chambers, but rarely a facade made of megaliths on the head side, which is usually in the east . The 15 to 50 m ( Penywyrlod ) long stone-earth mounds consist of a carefully layered outer wall made of dry masonry instead of an orthostat frame , by means of which they are kept in their shape. The shape of the hill is similar to that of the Scottish Clyde and some Irish court tombs .

Cotswold Severn plants

Research history

The first classification of the approximately 125 surviving Cotswold-Severn Tombs from 220 was made by John Thurnam in 1869. He distinguished between megalithic systems with simple box-like chambers at the end of the long hill, those with subdivided chambers ( transepted chambers ) and those with multiple chambers that are accessible from the hill sides. He saw the development of subdivided chambers that were increasingly simplified and later opened up from the side. The graves with stone boxes represent the end of the development, which includes the Lugbury complex . His scheme was modified by Osbert Crawford in 1922 , Glyn Daniel in 1950 and William Francis Grimes in 1969 , with Grimes forming local groups. The group formation took place on the basis of the shape of the chamber and the location of the entrance, although certain types of chambers are also linked to certain hill shapes.

distribution

There are around 125 plants of this type in the west of England , particularly in the counties of Gloucestershire ( Hazleton North ), Herefordshire , Oxfordshire , Somerset and Wiltshire ( Adam's Grave ), in south Wales ( St Lythans , Tinkinswood ) and, in small numbers, in the north of Wales , mainly in higher elevations and on the island of Anglesey (e.g. Capel Garmon and Din Dryfol ) are concentrated.

Chambers

Two chamber positions are represented:

  • Axial, linear corridors with two to six lateral chambers along the corridor, usually with a head niche.
  • short corridors lead laterally into the body of the hill, into simple polygonal or rectangular chambers.

The chambers of the Cotswold-Severn tombs have different shapes and also vary their location in the hill. There are the following types of chambers:

  • simple rectangular chambers
  • multiple chambers.

JE Walkowitz distinguishes between the following chambers: those

  • which are simply rectangular, but unusually large in relation to the cairn
  • which lie along a corridor as up to three opposing pairs of chambers, often with one chamber at the head side. This form with many side chambers, but there are more closely adjacent, occurs both in the Vendée and Brittany in France and in Ireland ( Loughcrew County Meath ). Both variants are accessible from the middle of the head side.
  • which vary greatly in shape and location ( Uley Long Barrow ).

In addition to simple, small rectangular chambers, there are also transverse, angular, and round or oval chambers, sometimes with lateral compartments. The entrances to these (up to four per cairn) separate chambers are located on the long sides of the cairn, while in the middle of the head side there is often a false entrance e.g. B. is located at Belas Knap .

Some trapezoidal hills were built over older round or oval structures. At Pipton and Ty Isaf , the archaeologists discovered that systems were built in phases. Smaller monuments were integrated into larger ones. At Ty Isaf in Breconshire , the hill of the older complex was built over, but access remained free. At Notgrove , Gloucestershire , the older hill was completely built over. The oval mound of Waylands Smithy was also completely overbuilt with a Cotswold-Severn grave. Penywyrlod, at Talgarth (in Powys ) is the largest of the facilities in Wales. It measures 60 m 25 m and is three meters high. While more than 50 body burials have been found in Tinkinswood ( Vale of Glamorgan ), there are more than 40 in Parc le Breos Cwm and over 30 in Ty Isaf.

development

The Cotswold-Severn graves were mostly derived from Breton plants, but the C-14 data show no significant age difference.

Dating

date bc origin Laboratory number
3070 ± 92 scott-Under-Wychwood, material removal ditch BM-835
3100 ± 75 Gwernvale, before the hill was built CAR-113
3020 ± 80 Penywyrlod, bones from chamber NE II HAR-674

literature

  • Timothy C. Darvill : Megalithic chambered tombs of the Cotswold-Severn Region. An assessment of certain architectural elements and their relation to ritual practice and Neolithic society (=  Vorda research series . Volume 5 ). Vorda, Highworth 1982, ISBN 0-907246-04-4 (English).
  • Timothy C. Darvill: Long barrows of the Cotswolds and surrounding areas . Tempus, Stroud 2004 (English).
  • Frances Lynch: Megalithic tombs and Long Barrows in Britain (=  Shire archeology . Volume 73 ). Princes Risborough, Shire 1997, ISBN 0-7478-0341-2 , pp. 48-55 (English).
  • Michael Shanks , Chris Tilley : Ideology, symbolic power and ritual communication. A re-interpretation of Neolithic mortuary practices . In: Ian Hodder (Ed.): Symbolic and structural archeology (=  New directions in archeology ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1982, ISBN 0-521-24406-4 , pp. 129-154 (English).
  • Julian Thomas: The Social Significance of Cotswold-Severn Burial Practices . In: Man New Series . tape 23 , no. 3 , 1988, pp. 540-559 (English).
  • Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Thurnam: On ancient British barrows, especially those of Wiltshire and the adjoining counties (part I, long barrows) . In: Archaeologia . tape 42 , 1869, pp. 61-244 (English).
  2. ^ John Thurnam: On a cromlech-tumulus called Lugbury, near Littleton Drew . In: Wiltshire archaeological Magazine . tape 3 , 1869, p. 164-173 (English).
  3. ^ William Francis Grimes: Excavations on defense sites . Vol. 1: mainly Neolithic-Bronze Age. HMSO, London 1960 (English).
  4. ^ A b c Julian Thomas: The social Significance of Cotswold-Severn Burial Practices . In: Man. New Series . tape 23 , no. 3 , 1988, pp. 541 (English).
  5. ^ Julian Thomas: The social Significance of Cotswold-Severn Burial Practices . In: Man. New Series . tape 23 , no. 3 , 1988, Fig. 1 (English).
  6. ^ WF Grimes: The excavation of the Ty Isaf long cairn, Breconshire . In: Proceedings prehistoric Society . tape 5 , 1939, pp. 119-142 (English).

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