Excavations 2009

Preliminary report on excavations on Colaton Raleigh Common 2009

In the 2009 field season excavation of the eastern quadrant of Tor Barrow was completed and the western quadrant was also entirely excavated down to the natural. In addition two metre squares at the centre of the barrow: North 3 and South 4 were excavated down to the natural in order to investigate a central pit which had been partially exposed in the eastern and western quadrants. The remainder of the barrow was left unexcavated. The area to the south-east of Tor Barrow between it and a much smaller barrow, 4.6 m distant, Little Tor Barrow, was also excavated down to the natural and the western half and central part of the latter. Samples of the soil from the old ground surface underneath both barrows were taken by Dr. Mike Allen for environmental assessment and transect auger surveys of sediments were also carried out across the stream valleys to the west and east of the ridge on which Tor Barrow and Little Tor Barrow are situated.
The pebbles in Tor Barrow and Little Tor Barrow were excavated by metre square and pebble layer. Each metre square and layer was cleaned up and photographed. The pebbles were then removed, washed, sorted, colour coded, weighed, measured and classified in terms of shape and whether they were broken or not. Special pebbles, i.e. multicoloured pebbles or pebbles with unusual quartz veins or patterns on their surface were then bagged up by excavation unit and layer for further analysis off site. In addition all the positions of Carter Blue Stone pebbles in the cairn were precisely recorded and plotted using a level as well as those of other significant pebbles and find material.

Figure 1. Tor Barrow above with the quadrant excavated in 2009
marked, Little Tor Barrow below excavated in 2009 and the excavation area
between the two.

Tor Barrow

The barrow was constructed on an uneven lens of grey sandy deposits approximately 20 cm thick. Such deposits are a natural feature of the geology of the East Devon Pebblebeds. The presence of the sand at this location as opposed to pebbles which occur elsewhere in the area might have been recognized by those constructing the cairn influencing the choice of this specific location for its siting.
The four sections revealed in the excavated eastern and western quadrants show that the cairn was constructed of multiple layers of pebbles with grey sand between the pebbles in the bottom layers and more recent peaty soil between the top four or five layers. The number of pebble layers in the four central metre squares excavated inthe cairn varied between eight and fourteen (Fig 2).

Figure 2. Section through Tor Barrow.

The height of the cairn in the middle was up to 0.6 m high above the old ground surface. The varying numbers of layers of pebbles at the centre of the cairn reflects the unevenness of the original ground surface on which it was built.
The only finds made in these pebble layers apart from those occurring in the very centre of the cairn (see below) in the western quadrant excavated in 2009 were two small grey flint flakes resting in the uppermost pebble layer. This may be contrasted with finds of about 20 small flint flakes on and amongst the pebble layers in the eastern quadrant excavated in 2008. Underneath the cairn on the old ground surface there were traces of fire and burning with darkened soil but only small flecks of charcoal.
The perimeter of the cairn was not marked by a kerb of any kind but had a distinct edge of pebbles. The pebbles throughout the different layers in the cairn were carefully laid in horizontal layers. In the eastern down-slope quadrant occasionally larger pebbles were set end on presumably acting as internal revetments. There was no evidence for this in the western up-slope excavated quadrant.
In the centre of the cairn an exceptionally large pebble had been set into the basal pebble layer. It was 23 cm long and weighed 5.5kg. The source of this pebble was almost certainly a nearby stream bed since similarly large pebbles do not occur on exposed on the ridge on which the cairn was constructed. This pebble may be conceptualised as the foundation stone for the cairn (Fig 3).

Figure 3. The foundation stone of Tor Barrow.

The likely source of the majority of the pebbles used to construct the cairn would be shallow quarry pits or scoops along the valley sides to the west and the east or along the end of the ridge to the south-east. Special pebbles might have been collected and brought to the cairn from much further afield across the Pebblebed heathlands. All the backfilled pebbles from the 2008 excavations of the eastern quadrant were counted as they were removed. This gave an estimated total of 30,000 pebbles for the entire cairn. If six people carried ten baskets a day each containing 50 pebbles all the building materials could have been brought to the location in only a couple of weeks, assuming that construction was a single event rather than something undertaken, perhaps seasonally, over a number of years. Whatever may have been the case it is quite clear that Tor Barrow does not represent a major labour investment and could have easily have been constructed by a small group of people.
There is evidence for two distinct phases of cairn construction. First a small central cairn 1.5 m in diameter and about 0.3 m high was built, approximately the same size as Little Tor Barrow 4.6 m distant to the south-east. The sides and top of this cairn were then covered with sand. This cairn was then enlarged to 6m in diameter and 0.6 m high at the centre (Fig 4).

Figure 4. The central small cairn in the western quadrant of Tor Barrow excavated in 2009.

So originally the ridge may have had two small cairns on it, both of similar size, in a south-east alignment to the midwinter sunrise out of the sea just to the right or west of High Peak which dominates the horizon seen from the sloping ridge top on which they are situated (Fig 5).

Figure 5. The extent of the 2009 excavations Tor barrow foreground, little Tor Barrow background with High Peak on the horizon.

In the basal pebble layer of this small central cairn the foundation stone, mentioned above, was found and an unusual flaked pebble near to it resembling an ard. The end of this pebble pointed in the direction of High Peak (Figs 6 and 7).

Figure 6. The flaked pebble from the basal pebble layer of Tor Barrow.

Figure 7. Mrs Priscilla Hull. George Carter's daughter examining the flaked pebble.

The small central cairn was constructed over an area showing signs of much burning and with substantial deposits of charcoal. The central burnt area was about 1 m in diameter and circular in shape and right at the middle of the cairn. Some of the pieces of charcoal indicate the original presence of substantial wooden planks. The soil around the fire was compacted and baked indicating that the fire took place on the old ground surface under the cairn rather than being material brought and dumped here from a fire elsewhere in the vicinity. In and amongst the charcoal deposits there were lenses of reddened burnt sand containing what appear to be minute. cremated bone fragments (Fig 8).

Figure 8. The area with burning reddened soil and much charcoal in the centre of Tor Barrow.

The fact that there were multiple lenses of burnt sandy soil amongst the charcoal deposits might suggest that more than one burning event took place here. The only finds amongst this material were two very small thin red pottery sherds, probably of early Bronze Age or Beaker date. Some of the soil and burnt areas appeared to be very fatty or greasy in consistency and had an unusual smell like washing up liquid: possibly surviving traces of body fats from a cremation.
Below the central burnt area at the very centre of Tor Barrow, with charcoal, reddened sand with bone fragments and the two pot sherds was a pit 44cm in diameter and 40 cm deep. This had cut into the grey sand forming the old ground surface (Fig 9).

Figure 9. The top of the pebble filled pit, in the centre of Tor Barrow.

This pit was carefully packed from top to bottom with 126 pebbles. Some were placed horizontally, others vertically. Midway down a thin retouched pebble flake was recovered bearing in thickness and form a resemblance to a skull fragment (Fig 10).

Figure 10. The flaked pebble from the pit resembling a human skull fragment.

Besides this the pit contained six blue stones, nine white or pink quartz pebbles, two black pebbles, seven red pebbles, fifteen brown pebbles, forty one grey pebbles, eighteen yellow pebbles and twenty eight special or multicoloured pebbles with striking quartz veins. The number of special pebbles in this pit (22%) is much higher than those which occur in any other metre square and pebble layer in the cairn. The number of yellow pebbles (15%) is also higher than elsewhere in the cairn and the colour yellow could well have symbolized the rising of the sun in the direction of which the two cairns seem to have been aligned. Sixty one pebbles (48%) in the pit were broken. Again this is unusually high compared with the pebble layers elsewhere in the cairn and this might indicate this was a deliberate feature of the deposition. All these pebbles have been kept for further analysis. Since none of the pebbles in the pit appear to be fire cracked this appears to indicate that the pit was dug and filled with pebbles after the cremation had taken place.

An initial interpretation

The following is a possible sequence of events that took place. A cremation pyre was lit on an area with grey sandy soil. Since the area is small this cremation was either of an infant or of the dismembered and partially defleshed remains of an adult. The bone fragments were then carefully collected up and deposited elsewhere. A symbolic pit was then dug in the centre of the pyre and packed with many special and yellow and broken pebbles. To dig a central pit and fill it with pebbles provides clear evidence of their significance and magical potency to the Bronze Age people of the Pebblebed heathlands. The retouched pebble flake resembling a human skull fragment found in the pit can be regarded as a symbolic token of the cremation: bone turned into stone. A small cairn was then built over the site of the pit and the fire. This together with Little Tor Barrow was aligned to the rising of the midwinter sun, a most significant moment in the celestial cycle. A large foundation stone was laid at the bottom of the cairn taken from a nearby stream bed indicating the symbolic importance of water and its elemental opposition to fire. Near to the foundation stone a special symbolic ard shaped pebble was placed so as to point towards the pebble filled pit and High Peak beyond. After the construction of the small cairn further fires were lit in its vicinity which were then covered by the construction of an enlarged cairn. Flint flakes were deposited among the pebble layers and on top of the cairn mainly on the eastern side during this period of construction.

Little Tor Barrow

Little Tor Barrow is located 4.6 m to the south-east of Tor Barrow. The area between Tor Barrow and Little Tor Barrow was excavated down to the old ground surface It is 3.6 m in diameter and 0.42 high in the centre (Fig 11).

Figure 11. Little Tor Barrow after removal of surface soil and vegetation.

The natural was only 5-10 cm beneath the present ground surface and consisted of a grey gravelly sand with a random scatter of larger pebbles. No evidence was found of any activity in the zone between the two barrows and neither barrow had a surrounding pebble pavement or skirt. Little Tor Barrow consists of four layers of pebble with grey sand in between the three bottom layers. The western half was excavated. In the section larger pebbles can be seen on the cairn edge with smaller pebbles in the middle (Fig 12).

Figure 12. The section through Little Tor Barrow.

Like Tor Barrow it had no kerb surrounding it and the pebbles were carefully laid horizontally. The old ground surface beneath the cairn was markedly different from that beneath Tor Barrow and was identical to the natural around it consisting of a gravelly grey sand. The thick stone free grey sand found under Tor Barrow was noticeably absent. There were no finds apart from a flint flake on the top surface of the eastern quadrant of the barrow. One fleck of charcoal was recovered from the old ground surface beneath the cairn on the western side but otherwise there were no traces of fires or burning. The bottom of the barrow follows the line of the slope and was not levelled into it. The old ground surface then was neither prepared or burnt before the construction of the cairn.

Post-excavation of soils and charcoal

Charcoal samples were taken from the central pyre. These will be sent off for identification prior to radiocarbon dating. It is proposed to obtain three dates which will allow a comparison with the three dates already obtained from the old ground surface under the outer surface of the cairn.
2. Bulk samples of the entire central deposit were taken for wet sieving and it may be possible to obtain a lipids analysis.
3. Samples were taken of the reddened soil with probable cremated bone for analysis.
4. Hopefully the soil samples taken from the old ground surface under the cairn will prove suitable for pollen analysis which can be compared with that for nearby valley bog sediments obtained by the auger transects.

Restoration of the site

Both Tor Barrow and Little Tor Barrow were restored with layers of soil and pebbles following the excavations and were left as pebble cairns. The excavated area between the two cairns was left as a top soil scraped area after consultation with Natural England. The remaining soil on the spoil heap was flattened.

Other excavations on Colaton Raleigh Common

In December 2007 fieldwork revealed one large mound and two smaller mounds on the summit area of the north-east part of Colaton Raleigh common centered at SY 0565 8850. This was in an area recorded by Carter as being a ‘cemetery area’ in the 1930s. Archaeological field surveyors had recorded the presence of up to 22 small mounds in the 1950s. One of the three mounds was sectioned and half of it was completely excavated and the pebbles recorded, measured and weighed. This proved to be an unstructured dump of modern material. After washing it became apparent that a  number of pebbles had traces of cement on them (Fig 13).

Figure 13. The rubble mound in the North-East part of Colaton Raleigh Common.

Test pits were made in the other two mounds which also proved to be recent dumps of soil, gravel and some pebbles. In this general area there was much dumping of chicken manure and other material by a local farmer about twenty years ago. The dumps mostly linear or irregular cover quite a substantial area and are now covered with dense bracken and bramble. The mounds recorded in the 1950s may now either be buried under this material or located down-slope to the east where there is dense gorse cover.