| Description | This cairnfield covers an area of c. 160 x 70 metres and lies about 250 m. due south of a similar cairnfield (PRN 1354). It lies within an area of Rombald's Moor which was surveyed by the Ilkley Archaeology Group in 1981 who have considerably altered the picture of the archaeology that was thought to survive. For example, the O.S. state that this cairnfield comprises 22 cairns, when, in fact, the number is at least 40.
The cairns are associated with short lengths of walling and a number of cup and ring rocks (PRN's 274, 275, 277, 282, and 284). They are best visible when the vegetation is burnt off and are difficult to see under normal vegetation cover. They are all small and under 5m. in diameter. The function and date of the cairnfield is uncertain, but the results of excavation of one cairn at SE 1377 4559 went some way towards solving the clearance/burial problem.
The cairn excavated in March 1983 (partial archive in SMR map tank 3) was chosen for its undisturbed condition. Excavation produced no actual burial remains or grave goods, but the results of pollen analysis of the buried soil gave exceptionally high lime and honeysuckle values which may represent the placing of honey or mead as offerings, perhaps with burials, beneath the cairn (see Bannister 1985, for detailed discussion and the parallels for such offerings). The radiocarbon date derived from the top 2cms of the soil profile was 2480 + or 90 BP (clearance of the area is thought to have begun at around 3320 BP). The excavation of this cairn is probably not representative of the two large cairnfields on Woofa Bank (e.g.there are constructional differences between the 2 groups and others with cists have been noted). |