Monument record MDR2969 - Moot Low bowl barrow, Brassington

Dimensions: diameter 14m (15yd); height 1.3m (4 ft). A large tumulus opened by Bateman on 06-MAY-1844. It contained a primary crouched skeleton on a layer of rough limestone. A Collared Urn was found near the surface containing a cremation, with a burnt riveted bronze razor. (1) Located on a ridge at its NNW end rising to SSE to rocky crest. This bowl barrow is 0.7m high from upslope to the south, and 1.9m high from downslope to the north. Western side has been mutilated by quarrying, exposing a large slab which may be a remnant of a kerb. Other portions appear intact - Bateman's eastern trench is not visible and was probably backfilled. A central pit and upcast must post-date this. Minor damage to northern edge of barrow from erosion. Bateman (6.5.1844) cut through mound centre from the east to west, 4 yds from centre (to east) and near the surface found a cremation in a collared urn on its side. In amongst the bone was the bronze dagger. Nearer the centre, on 'some large limestones' was an inhumation - contracted. Finds of pig teeth and other animal bones along with flint flakes came from the trenches. (8) Moot Low bowl barrow is a sub-circular cairn situated in the south-eastern uplands of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a mound measuring 20m by 23m by c.1.5m high which has been somewhat disturbed in the past, either by wall-builders robbing it for its stone or by miners from nearby surface workings who may have mistaken the barrow for a spoil heap left after earlier lead exploration. In 1844, Thomas Bateman carried out a partial excavation of the barrow and recovered a crouched skeleton and the remains of a cremation with a burnt bronze razor in a collared urn. Both burials indicate a Bronze Age date for the barrow. Although partially disturbed by excavation and stone-robbing, Moot Low bowl barrow is a reasonably well preserved example retaining significant archaeological remains. (9)