From Malvern to the Irish Sea: Early Bronze Age Round Barrows in a Border Landscape

Johnson, Neal (2015) From Malvern to the Irish Sea: Early Bronze Age Round Barrows in a Border Landscape. PhD thesis, University of Worcester.

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Abstract

This thesis explores Early Bronze Age round barrows in a distinctive landscape, the Anglo-Welsh borderland. It is a landscape of contrasts, encompassing the lowlands and
plains of the Midlands counties to the east and the uplands of the west. Although the region has been recognised as a valid unit of study, many previous studies have been
constrained by national and county boundaries. Recent research on the prehistoric archaeology of the region has addressed this problem but until now the area’s round
barrows have received little attention. This thesis se
rves to redress this imbalance and considers round barrows in their historic and regional context.
A multi-scalar approach to the study has been taken. At the macro scale, the morphology, distribution and broad topographic settings are examined in addition to an analysis of factors relating to the survival and destruction of the regions barrows. It is argued that the
location of the borderlands may have led to some of the distinct architectural elements present in the region.
For the most part, round barrows in the study area do not coalesce in to large cemeteries as seen elsewhere;
the general pattern being that of isolated or paired barrows, yet relatively dense clusters have been identified. These are analysed at the meso scale to
establish the relationships of barrows within these clusters to each other, to earlier monumentality and to the wider landscape. Here it is suggested that different rationales led to their formation, in some instances rep
resenting different communities’ access to
resources and routeways. The analysis then proceeds at the micro - scale and considers the problem of why build a
round barrow in the first place. By examining a single, well excavated site of two barrows in close
proximity with a reasonable degree of contemporaneity, it is possible to mitigate against certain variables to explore the role of choice when a community built a barrow.
The role of deposition, including that of human remains is considered and it is argued that such practices were strategies to effect change within the world of the living.

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