barrow

Burial mound, usually composed of earth but sometimes of stones. Examples are found in many parts of the world. The two main types are long, dating from the Neolithic period (New Stone Age), and round, dating from the Mesolithic period (early Bronze Age). Barrows made entirely of stones are known as cairns.

Long barrow
Long barrows may be mere mounds, typically higher and wider at one end. They usually contain a chamber of wood or stone slabs, or a turf-lined cavity, in which the body or bodies of the deceased were placed. Secondary chambers may be added in the sides of the mound. They are common in southern England from Sussex to Dorset. Earthen (or unchambered) long barrows belong to the early and middle Neolithic, whereas others, such as the Neolithic West Kennet barrow near Avebury, Wiltshire, were constructed over megalithic (great stone) tombs which generally served as collective burial chambers. The stones are arranged to form one, often large, chamber with a single entrance, and are buried under a mound of earth. The remains of these stone chambers, once their earth covering has disappeared, are known as dolmens, and in Wales as cromlechs.

Round barrow
Round barrows belong mainly to the Bronze Age, although in historic times there are examples from the Roman period, and some of the Saxon and most of the Danish invaders were barrow-builders. In northern Europe, round barrows were sometimes built above a tree-trunk coffin in which waterlogged conditions have preserved nonskeletal material, such as those found in Denmark dating from around 1000 BC.

In Britain the most common type is the bell barrow, consisting of a circular mound enclosed by a ditch and an outside bank of earth. Other types include the bowl barrow, pond barrow, saucer barrow, ring barrow, and disc barrow, all of which are associated with the Wessex culture (early Bronze Age culture of southern England dating from approximately 2000–1500 BC). Many barrows dot the Wiltshire Downs in England.

Barrows from the Roman era, such as the Six Hills at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and the Bartlow Hills at Ashdon, Essex, have a distinctive steep and conical outline, and in southeast Britain usually cover the graves of wealthy merchant traders. They are also found in Belgic Gaul, where the traders had commercial links. Not all burials in the Roman era were in barrows; cemeteries were also used.

The Saxons buried the remains of important chieftains in large conical barrows, such as Taeppa's law which gives its name to Taplow, Buckinghamshire, but clusters of small burial mounds are more commonly found. Many examples of these graves of ordinary people are found in east Kent.

In eastern European and Asiatic areas where mobility was afforded by the horse and wagon, a new culture developed of pit graves marked by a kurgan, or round mound, in which a single body lay, often accompanied by grave goods which might include a wagon. These date from around 3000 BC.

Boat burial
The placing of a great person's body in a ship is seen in Viking burials, such as the Oseberg ship in Norway, which was buried and sealed around AD 800. Barrows were erected over boat burials during the Saxon period, and the Sutton Hoo boat burial excavated in Suffolk during 1938–39 was that of an East Anglian king of Saxon times.