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Viewing swaag.org website implies consent to set cookies on your computer. Full details Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group
Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation Number 1155775
SWAAG Honorary President:
Tim Laurie F,S,A,

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 *****SWAAG_ID***** 922
 Date Entered 15/03/2016
 Updated on 15/03/2016
 Recorded by Tim Laurie
 Category Burnt Mound
 Record Type Archaeology
 SWAAG Site Name 
 Site Type 
 Site Name 
 Site Description 
 Site Access Public Access Land
 Record Date 14/03/2016
 Location Featham Pasture. Brunt Hill south slope
 Civil Parish Melbecks
 Brit. National Grid SD 98058 99198
 Altitude 435m
 Geology Spring rise below the Underset Limestone.
 Record Name Featham Pasture. Brunt Hill south slope. Large burnt mound at spring rise.
 Record Description Large, 10m diameter mound of highly consolidated fire cracked, reddened and fissured sandstone located on the eastern bank of a spring rise on the steep lower slope of Brunt Hill. A large clump of soft rush indicates the location of the trough, at the top of the mound. A circular setting of large rocks indicates the presence of a hearth. Troughs and hearths are constant features of these sites. This burnt mound site, interpreted as a sweat house/sauna of late Neolithic to mid Bronze Age date can be regarded as one element in the Later Prehistoric, Bronze Age landscape of Unenclosed Round House Settlements, Cairnfields and Round Cairns only now being recorded on Featham Pasture. See also SWAAG Record Nos . Massed fragments of burnt stone are visible at several erosion patches, see photos. The top of this mound has been levelled and probably supported a timber framed, hide covered tent like structure. The existence of an abandoned spring rise directly above the present spring rise and the mound indicates that the water table on this hill slope has subsequently dropped.
 Dimensions 10m diameter excluding the trough.
 Geographical area 
 Species 
 Scientific Name 
 Common / Notable Species 
 Tree and / or Stem Girth 
 Tree: Position / Form / Status 
 Tree Site ID 0
 Associated Site SWAAG ID 0
 Additional Notes This large burnt mound is located at the spring rise location most characteristic of these sites. Evidence of ethnology (the fact that indigenous people so considered)informs us that Springs may have been regarded by Late Neolithic/Bronze Age people as the interface between the land of the living and the underworld- the watery land of the dead where every living thing has its mirror image.(Reference: Alex Loktionov, 2012, see Publications Section of this Web Site)
 Image 1 ID 6724         Click image to enlarge
 Image 1 Description The burnt mound is on the far side of the spring which, with two recent troughs-one of stone and one of wood, has been managed by the farms who share this pasture, as a water supply.
 Image 2 ID 6723         Click image to enlarge
 Image 2 Description The levelled top of the burnt mound is now covered below green moss.
 Image 3 ID 6726         Click image to enlarge
 Image 3 Description The fire cracked reddened sandstone core is revealed at erosion patches.
 Image 4 ID 6725         Click image to enlarge
 Image 4 Description Setting of large rocks mark the site of one of the hearths which are always present in the vicinity of these sites.
 Image 5 ID 6727         Click image to enlarge
 Image 5 Description The spring rise and mound.
 Image 6 ID 6728         Click image to enlarge
 Image 6 Description The spring rise.
 Image 7 ID 6729         Click image to enlarge
 Image 7 Description the bright moss covered levelled top of the mound.
 Image 8 ID 6730         Click image to enlarge
 Image 8 Description Two troughs, one of stone and one of wood show that this constant spring is managed as a supply of water scares on this moor.
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