Guide: Barrows

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What Is a Barrow?

A barrow is a mound of earth and/or stones raised over a grave or group of graves. Used from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age (roughly 4000 BCE to 500 CE), barrows were often constructed to honour elite individuals, such as tribal leaders, warriors, or chieftains. They are frequently found singly or in cemeteries known as barrow fields.

Barrows vary in shape, construction, and size, and these differences can reflect chronological developments, regional styles, or cultural practices.

Main Types of Barrows

Round Barrows

These are circular mounds of earth or stone, often with a central burial. They are common from the Late Neolithic through the Bronze Age, and usually contain one or more graves (inhumations or cremations), often within a central cist, pit, or chamber. They are found widespread across Europe, especially in Britain, Scandinavia, and Central Europe.

Example: The Wessex Round Barrows, near Stonehenge, England, are classic Bronze Age barrows often associated with elite burials and rich grave goods.

“helicopters over barrow” by Jonnee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Long Barrows

These are elongated mounds, often hundreds of feet in length. They date mainly to the Neolithic period (mainly 4000–3000 BCE). They typically contain multiple burials, often collective, sometimes in chambered tombs. Long Barrows are found in western and Northern Europe, including Britain, France, and Scandinavia.

Example: West Kennet Long Barrow in Wiltshire, England, is a prominent Neolithic monument with a long stone-built burial chamber within the mound.

“West Kennet Long Barrow” by Wessex Archaeology is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Bell Barrows

These are a subtype of Round Barrow with a prominent mound separated from an encircling ditch by a flat platform (berm). They are mainly Bronze Age in date, and are often associated with single, prestigious burials and grave goods. These are particularly common in southern England.

“Bell Barrow – Amesbury 43” by ᚛Tilly Mint ᚜ is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Disc Barrows

These have low, wide circular features defined by a ditch and bank with one or more small central mounds. They date from the Later Bronze Age, and are frequently ceremonial, with fewer or no burials. They are found mostly in southern Britain and are rare elsewhere.

“Oakley Disc Barrow” by JimChampion is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Ring Barrows

These consist of a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with little or no central mound. They date from the late Bronze Age into the Iron Age and may have had ceremonial or symbolic functions, possibly as cenotaphs. They are found in Ireland, Britain, and northern France.

“Crug cylchog – Ring Barrow – geograph.org.uk – 7700259” by Alan Richards is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Square barrows

These are square (or sometimes rectangular) ditched enclosure, normally 6-12 m across, raised into a low mound with a single central grave. The ditch is dug first; its spoil provides the mound core, so most barrows now survive only as cropmarks. (historicengland.org.uk).

The earliest examples belong to the Middle–Late Iron Age (c. 5th–1st century BC), contemporary with La Tène culture on the Continent and the Arras tradition in East Yorkshire. A few later, early-Roman imitations exist. Square barrows are also known from the Roman and Scottish Pictish cultures.

Usually an inhumation is placed on its back or side; grave-goods range from plain pots to chariots, weapons, brooches and horse gear.

Steppe Kurgans (Eurasian Tumuli)

These are large, often monumental burial mounds found across the Eurasian steppe. They date from the Bronze Age to the early medieval periods, and are understood to be elite burials of nomadic tribes (e.g. Scythians, Sarmatians) with rich artifacts and horse burials. They can be found in Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, southern Russia, and into Central Asia.

Example: The Royal Kurgans of the Scythians in Ukraine, such as the Solokha and Chertomlyk mounds, contain vast underground chambers and gold-laden burials.

“Scythian capital and royal kurgans” by Janmad is licensed under CC BY 3.0

File:Царський курган 007.jpg” by Anatoly Shcherbak is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Regional Variations

Britain and Ireland: Strong emphasis on Neolithic long barrows and Bronze Age round barrows. Barrow cemeteries often align with major ritual landscapes, like Stonehenge or Avebury.

Scandinavia: Includes large burial mounds (e.g., Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway), often associated with ship burials in the Viking Age.

Central Europe: Rich Hallstatt culture barrows in Austria and Germany, often with chariot burials and luxury goods.

Iberian Peninsula: Fewer classic barrows; instead, Megalithic Tombs with earthen covering are more typical.

Eastern Europe: Kurgan-style mounds dominate, associated with Indo-European migrations and later nomadic empires.

Purpose and Significance

Barrows served not only as graves but also as:

• Territorial markers
• Religious or ceremonial sites
• Symbols of status and memory

They remain important archaeological sites today, revealing burial customs, social hierarchies, and long-distance trade through the study of grave goods.

Timeline of Barrow development in Europe

How to read the chart

• Years to the left of “0” are BCE, years to the right are CE.
• Each horizontal bar shows when a particular barrow-building tradition was most active across Europe. (Local outliers exist, but these ranges capture the main pulse of construction in the archaeological record.)

What the timeline shows

A very long tradition – from the first Neolithic communal tombs (long barrows) right through to high-status Viking Age mounds, the basic idea of commemorating the dead with an earthen or stone mound persisted for almost five millennia.

Changing meanings – while Neolithic mounds emphasised collective ancestors, later Bronze-Age and Iron-Age barrows increasingly marked individual or elite burials, reflecting shifts in social hierarchy and belief.

Regional peaks :

• Britain & Atlantic façade: strong Neolithic and Early Bronze-Age phases.
• Central Europe: flourishing Hallstatt and La Tène “princely” barrows.
• Scandinavia: a remarkably long Nordic Bronze-Age barrow tradition that blends into Viking Age ship-mound burials.

Interruptions & revivals – Roman fashions temporarily dampened barrow-building in many areas, but early-medieval elites (Anglo-Saxon, Slavic, Scandinavian) revived the custom as statements of power and identity.

Key observations