The most extensive and detailed
excavations of the site were carried out in the early 1960s and revealed that the first burial place was used for a relatively short period of time - less than 15 years - rather than it being an ancestral tomb used over centuries. Although some archaeological evidence had been destroyed by scavengers and to some extent by earlier explorations a lot was learned during this investigation about the history of the site. The earliest mortuary chamber consisted of a stone floor and a wooden box like structure. This ‘coffin’ contained the remains of 11 males, two females and a child, and apparently when it was full, two ditches were dug alongside and the excavated chalk piled on top to cover the chamber. The mound was then surrounded by huge sandstone boulders or sarsen stones. At that time it was customary for bodies to be defleshed in some way and often dismembered before being placed in their final tomb. They were usually either first buried for a time elsewhere or were exposed to natural scavengers to effect this process and there is evidence that many of the remains found in the first burial chamber had been treated in this way. It was little surprise therefore that most of the bones were found in a jumble and only one body was found whole, apparently in a
Above: Stones from the Ascott long barrow
crouching position. A mystery surrounds the burial of these people. Did they suffer from some illness or were they victims of conflict? It’s possible that three or four of the group died from lethal arrow wounds, but we shall never know the true background. What seems to be certain is that the grave was meant to honour people that its builders knew rather than as an ancestral tomb. Once the tomb had been closed it
remained undisturbed for around 20 years, when a second much bigger monumental long barrow was constructed. The plan was similar to the one at Notgrove, but had only two side chambers besides the main passage and no stone-lined rotunda. At Waylands a façade of massive stones guarded the entrance and four of the original three metre high slabs are still there. This place must have had a deep significance to the people who built the barrow. Tools were primitive and digging ditches and setting enormous boulders upright in the earth were no mean feats, so the ability of a deposed Saxon god to shoe a horse overnight pales by comparison. This more recent tomb was
readily accessible and was inevitably ransacked at some unknown time or times in history, however, investigations in the early part of the 20th century did reveal the remains
of several people including a child. Closer to home there are stones
from a Neolithic long barrow at Ascott-under-Wychwood. For around 5,000 years there was a long barrow to the south of the village. The B4437 Charlbury to Burford road runs close to the site, and a proposed improvement scheme necessitated action, so the area was excavated in the late 1960s. Perhaps because this was a one-time opportunity the explorations were very extensive and detailed. The archaeologists found evidence that communities had lived there and later cultivated the land for some time before it became a burial site.
The Ascott barrow was built in
two stages, and when finished was similar in shape and size to Notgrove and Waylands. At Ascott, however, two pairs of burial chambers were accessed by short passages from the sides, rather than the end, of the barrow. Remains of at least 20 individuals were found, each represented by only a few bones, with clear evidence that they too were devoid of flesh when deposited. One set of bones included part of a spinal column with a leaf shaped flint arrowhead embedded in one of the lower vertebrae. After the site had been thoroughly
investigated, the barrow was completely cleared and bones and artefacts removed for safekeeping. For
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