Amesbury Bowl Barrow

I’ve taken the name from Castleden’s ‘Neolithic Britain’ though the barrow isn’t exactly in Amesbury. It’s right next to the A303 between Stonehenge and the New King’s Barrows. It’s probably very obvious though when you’re on the 303 at this point you’re probably either gawping at Stonehenge or concentrating on the traffic. It’s been excavated twice, in the early 1800s and in 1960. A fire had been lit on the surface of the land before the mound was raised. Worked flints and animal bones and pottery sherds were found in the core of the mound – these came from an earlier era than the late neolithic mortuary structure discovered, and were maybe deliberately incorporated. Grave goods included shale beads and buttons and amber beads. Maybe I’m just a magpie, but I like to know about these personal artefacts, because I know I’d be the proud owner of such rare and carefully made things too.