Reasons for Designation
Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of
long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded
nationally. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as
earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and
their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be
nationally important.
Despite disturbance from early excavation and erosion from cultivation, the
Lineover long barrow, 500m south west of Castle Barn Farm, will contain
archaeological remains providing information about Neolithic beliefs, economy
and environment.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow situated immediately below a crest on the
north eastern edge of the Cotswolds, on level ground which falls sharply away
to the north. The barrow mound, which is orientated east-west, has been
reduced by cultivation. The western part survives as a slight rise, 0.3m
high, in the ploughsoil but reaches a maximum height of 1.8m, at the eastern
end. A circular depression in this end of the mound is probably the result of
an unrecorded antiquarian excavation. Although no longer visible on the
surface, side ditches will flank either side of the mound and will survive as
buried features 3m wide.
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.
