Duggleby Howe

By Helen Shenton 

Duggleby Howe is a Neolithic round barrow with a ditch enclosure. It “measured 38 meters in diameter and 6.5 in height.” (Pastscape Record No. 61899). This demonstrates that Duggleby Howe is one of the larger round barrows in the country. Round barrows like the name implies are circular in shape and are often enclosed by an outer ditch. Duggleby is slightly different in that it is flat-topped which has been suggested this was due to “maybe a result of earlier excavations.” (Prehistoric Society n.d.). But also has “what appears to be a causeway ditch, with a further outer ditch in some places, the whole monument having no true parallel.” (Gibson 2011, 9). However this has left some confusion for archaeologists due to the significant gap between the ringed ditch and mound.

Duggleby Howe

It was first excavated by John Mortimer, a local Yorkshire antiquarian, in 1890. There are many deposits of archaeological evidence at the site. “The first phase comprises a rectangular shaft cut into the chalk to a depth of 2.7 metres. At its base was a crouched inhumation with “Towthorpe” bowl and flints. Two further crouched inhumations occurred in the upper fill. Next, two inhumations were deposited on top of the grave backfill, with finds including a flint adze, an arrowhead and an antler mace head. A third phase of burial activity is represented by an adjacent grave containing another crouched inhumation with transverse arrowheads and other flints, plus worked boar’s tusks and beaver incisors (Pastscape Record No. 61899). Round barrows are typically made of stone or flint which archaeologists suggest where once part of the grave. In addition they are inhumations meaning rather than a cremation or exposure the person is buried in a dug grave. Furthermore it has been debated that due to the skeletons being all male that it could be a religious sacrifice. Furthermore the nature of the archaeological evidence such as the “250 pot shards,” (Mortimer 1905, 25), indicate that they were possibly broken for ceremonies as could be linked to the excavated cross which Mortimer suggests “…probably a sacred Moot-hill symbol.” (Mortimer 1905, 26). This implies that Duggleby Howe may have had symbolic religious undertone. Furthermore the flint tools found suggests that site had ritual significance as “…the series of flint and stone tools items which have been flaked, ground and polished to a very high degree of workmanship, in fact far beyond functional requirements.” (Woodward 2000, 37). This indicating that they were not functional items and were symbolic tools for display and decoration.

The Neolithic Period or new Stone Age was a development of a settled community. Due to the fact that Neolithic period was an end of hunting period, new technologies were developed such as farming tools, but also meant that there was a more of a sense of community thus may have been the reasoning for Duggleby Howe. “The lifestyle of the Neolithic or new Stone Age included many distinctive revolutionary elements, including farming, pottery and the building of elaborate ceremonial monuments.” (Castleden 1987, 50). This demonstrates that they had developed new technology and had a new sense of being.

The excavations itself used the technique of “… an area of 40 feet square over the centre of the barrow and a portion of the east side where removed.” (Mortimer 1905, 25). In addition the excavation was significant in terms of the depth uncovered. Furthermore there seems to have been two trenches cut suggesting a thorough excavation of the site. However as historian Richard Bradley argues “Ritual and symbols permeate everyday life, but all too often they escape the attention of archaeologists.” (Bradley 2005, 3). This implying that J.R. Mortimer may not have known about the significance of the site or gone about the excavation appropriately. However he did use modern scientific methods and recordings are extremely well documented. Moreover his illustrations of finds by his daughter Agnes show the level of completeness in site information.

Section through Duggleby (Mortimer 1905)

In conclusion Duggleby Howe has both Historical and Archaeological importance as one of the most impressive round barrow sites of the Neolithic period. This is due to the detailed description by J.R Mortimer and the range of finds associated with the burials. However due to the incompleteness of evidence it is difficult to determine whether it was originally a communal cemetery or whether it was foremost used for the burial of a rich important person which maybe the male at the centre of the round barrow. Furthermore Richard Bradley and Edmonds add “Duggleby Howe is the key site for our understanding of the sequence of burials on Yorkshire Wolds…for this reason the site has been taken to epitomise the precocious development of individual burial in northern England.” (Bradley and Edmonds 1993, 181). Duggleby Howe has great significance in terms of archaeological research as is useful in terms of being such a large Neolithic burial site. Moreover the discovery of whole bodies buried is extremely significant for archaeologists as body analysis allows archaeologists to find out the age, gender, height but also through isotope analysis, where they originate and their diet. Furthermore when investigating Duggleby the significant amount of Neolithic pottery is in itself great archaeological importance. However it could be considered that other Neolithic monuments pose greater significance such as Stonehenge, one the most iconic and world renowned site.

 

Bibliography

Bradley, R. (2005) Ritual and Domestic life in prehistoric Europe. London: Routledge.

Bradley, R. & Edmonds, M. (1993) Interpreting the Axe trade: Production and Exchange in Neolithic Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Castleden, R. (1987) The Stonehenge People: An exploration of life in Neolithic Britain 4700-2000 BC. London: Routledge

Gibson, A. (2011) Recent Work at Duggleby Howe, East Yorkshire ERAS Newsletter 75, 9-10. Available online http://www.eras.org.uk/pdf/erasnews75.pdf

Mortimer, J.R. (1905) Forty years researches in British and Saxon burial mounds of East Yorkshire. Hull: Browns.

Pastscape (n.d) Duggleby Howe. Available online http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=61899&sort=4&search=all&criteria=duggleby%20howe&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 [Accessed on 11/11/2015]

Prehistoric Society (n.d) Duggleby Howe, North Yorkshire (SE880669). Available online: www.prehistoricsociety.org/files/DUGGLEBY_HOWE.docx [Accessed on 12/11/2015]

Woodward, A. (2000) British Barrows, A matter of life and death. Stroud: Tempus.