Reasons for Designation
Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of
prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human
exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The
well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field
systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains
provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land
use through time. Round cairns are funerary monuments covering single or
multiple burials and dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were
constructed as mounds of earth and stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter
but usually considerably smaller; a kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds
the edges of the mound. Burials were placed in small pits, or on occasion
within a box-like structure of stone slabs called a cist, let into the old
ground surface or dug into the body of the cairn. Round cairns can occur as
isolated monuments, in small groups or in larger cemeteries. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provides
important information on the diversity of beliefs, burial practices and social
organisation in the Bronze Age. They are particularly representative of their
period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of preservation.
This round cairn on Hawk's Tor has survived well, with no visible or recorded
evidence for previous disturbance. The build-up of deposits against its
uphill side will preserve buried land surfaces and environmental evidence
contemporary with, and subsequent to, its construction. Its proximity to
other broadly contemporary cairns, settlement sites, enclosures and field
systems demonstrates well the nature of ritual activities and the organisation
of land use during the Bronze Age.
Details
The monument includes a Prehistoric round cairn situated on the lower SE flank
of Hawk's Tor on eastern Bodmin Moor, near other broadly contemporary cairns,
hut circle settlements, enclosures and field systems.
The cairn is visible as a mound of heaped rubble, 8m in diameter and up to 1m
high, whose steep sides rise to a flattened upper surface 6m in diameter. The
uphill, NW, side of the cairn has accumulated a build-up of hillwash deposits
since its construction, reducing its height on that side to 0.3m. This
monument is situated close to the western outlying hut circles of a dispersed
unenclosed hut circle settlement.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
