I have been curious about burnt mounds for quite a while now. Tim Laurie has identified dozens of them in the Yorkshire Dales and further afield.
Initially I was rather sceptical about these mounds as monuments but after reading Lauries work I felt a lot more secure about adding them to TMA as a distinct class of monuments. Lauries work has shown that the occurence of these mounds can be predicted. They mostly occur at a height of over 250m OD, they are always on the banks of streams and often just below the spring line. Many of the Irish burnt mounds are thought to have been places where food was prepared. Evidence from the Yorkshire mounds points more towards them being sweathouses or bathing places. There is a total absence of domestic debris, pottery or bone on the sites. Laurie has also discovered evidence for possible structures on top of the mounds, combining this evidence with ethnographic examples strengthens the sweatlodge theory.
Laurie identified the Haw Beck mounds as being quite large, so when I mentioned this to Rockrich and Paulus they were keen to see them too, especially as the sweathouse fits in with some of Paulus's shamanic theories.
There are two sets of mounds at this site both are situated beside streams and both are pretty difficult to describe other than to say they are mounds on the ground. That said, I would urge you to have a look at them if you are in the area. Castle Dykes Henge is visible from this site.
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Posted by fitzcoraldo
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