A Multi-phased Barrow and Possible Henge Monument at West Ashby, Lincolnshire

Abstract

Excavation of the surviving half of a barrow, identified from aerial photographs as having three concentric ditches, revealed a sequence of at least six major alterations. The site may originally have been a Class I henge monument subsequently adapted for use as a barrow. Features of all phases were mainly in the central area of the barrow and included two inhumations in coffins, one accompanied by a Yorkshire-type food vessel. A cremation in a PrimarySeries collared urn was accompanied by a bronze razor/knife and two flint plano-convex knives. A further cremation in a collared urn was found in the middle ditch. The barrow lay close to a settlement; early Bronze Age flintwork and pottery, including Grooved Ware and Beaker, were recovered from the several phases of mound make-up.

The Early Bronze Age Log Coffin Burials of Britain: The Origins and Development of a Burial Rite(s)

“…A broadly comparable sequence to the dated log coffin burials discussed above can also be seen at the undated barrow at West Ashby, Lincolnshire (Field 1985), where a series of burials including two in log coffins, one of which contained a Food Vessel, were inserted into barrow with a long history of remodelling. Taken together, the dated log coffin burials in the Midlands are found under multi-phased barrows associated with other forms of non-log coffin burial.…”