Cumbria's Prehistoric Monuments (eBook)

TERM

DEFINITION

Barrow

Any variety of mound intended to inter the dead. Same as a ‘tumulus’.

Bell beaker

A non-funerary pottery vessel dating to the Early Bronze Age, typically 12–30cm tall with a fluted top.

Burial cairn

A mound of stones created to mark burials.

Burial circle

A stone circle with a central burial cairn.

Cairn-field

An expanse of land with several prehistoric cairns.

Cap stone

A stone that covers a cist burial.

Cist

A small, stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Typically found within burial cairns.

Crag

A steep or rugged cliff or rock face.

Cremation cemetery

An area where bodies were cremated and buried, either in coffins or cists.

Crop marks

Patterns found in crop fields, due to differing levels of soil depth. Lighter marks are caused by shallow soils, darker marks signify trenches or pits.

Cup and ring marks

A style of rock art typical of the early to mid-Neolithic (3800–2750 BC) consisting of chiselled rings and dots on a rockface.

Cursus monument

Vast, cigar-shaped earthen enclosures created near the beginning of the Neolithic (est. 3800 BC).

Dyke

A man-made trench, often used in prehistoric and medieval times to delineate land boundaries.

Flint

A form of quartz used throughout the stone age to sculpt cutting tools.

Henge

An earthwork typical of the Neolithic period, consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area.

Hut circle

The foundation of a prehistoric roundhouse, typically circular stone walls with a single entrance and a cobbled interior.

Kerb stones

Stones holding a mound of stone or earth in place around its outside.

Polished axe

A well-honed stone axe typically dating to the Neolithic period, although earlier examples have been found.

Portal

A term used to define large stones that appear to form an entrance.

Solstice

The day when the sun reaches its highest point. This occurs twice a year, in summer and winter, marking both the longest (summer) and shortest (winter) days of the year.

Stone avenue

Two rows of stone erected parallel within the landscape.

Stone circle

A circular arrangement of stones.

Stone row

A single row of stones that forms a line in the landscape.

Survivor’s bias

A logical error made by concentrating on items that survive today, ignoring non-surviving examples.

Tumulus/tumuli

Any variety of mound intended to inter the dead. Same as a ‘barrow’.

MOUND VARIETY

DESCRIPTION

Kerbed barrow

A style of burial monument common in the Early Bronze Age (2500–1800 BC). A circle of stones around the base of a mound of earth or stone.

Bowl barrow

An earth-covered tomb with a resemblance to an upturned bowl (3200 BC–AD 700).

Clearance cairn

An uneven heap of stones removed from farmland. Does not contain burials.

Long barrow

A long earthen tumulus. Typically made during the early Neolithic (4000–3200 BC).

Long cairn

A rare long stone tumulus. Made during the early Neolithic (3800–3200 BC).

Passage tomb

A mid-Neolithic burial mound, with a narrow access passage made of large stones (3400–2800 BC).

Platform cairn

An Early Bronze Age burial cairn; low lying with a flat top. Possibly a converted ring cairn.

Ring cairn

A circular enclosure made from loose stones, can be kerbed. Sometimes known as ‘cremation cemeteries’. If topped with a stone circle, they are known as ‘embanked stone circles’.

Round cairn

Large stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. Typically made during the Bronze Age (2500–800 BC).

STONE CIRCLE VARIETY

DESCRIPTION

Cumbrian Circle

Large uncluttered megalithic enclosures, similar to henges, and formed using megalithic stones. Typically aligned to the mid-winter solstice sunrise or sunset.

Burial Circle

An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A small stone circle approximately 12–16m in diameter, surrounding a small burial cairn. A variant of a ring cairn local to the west coast, similar to the concentric stone circles of eastern Cumbria.

Concentric Circle

An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A stone circle at the centre of another. The central circle is always a kerbed cairn. A variant of a ring cairn local to the Eden Valley, similar to the burial circles of eastern Cumbria.

Embanked Stone Circle

An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A cobbled ring of loose stones with a circle of standing stones erupting from the top.

Kerbed Ring Cairn

An Early Bronze Age enclosure used during funerary activity. A cobbled ring of loose stones kerbed on their inner and outer circumference with megalithic stones.