Grime's Graves Round Barrows

Weeting-with-Bromehill, Norfolk – Second Barrow

This is the second barrow of the southern pair of tumuli recorded on the Ordnance Survey map. I have GPS waymarked its position at TL 8038 8931. Although very abraded and still surrounded by deep forestry, it remains clearly in sight of the first round barrow. Forestry England have recently felled the trees planted directly onto these barrows to prevent further root damage to the internal structure.

Round barrows marked a fundamental shift in attitudes toward mortuary practice and burial in this part of the world. Previously, in Neolithic communal tombs, the remains of several individuals are frequently found mixed together. It appears that excarnation – the practice of exposing corpses to the elements to allow nature to cleanly strip the flesh from the skeleton – was common, with the bones later collected to mingle with the community's stored ancestors. With the advent of the round barrow, the identity of the individual was now uniquely celebrated and commemorated.