Recent Research at Duggleby Howe, North Yorkshire

Abstract

Excavated by John Mortimer at the end of the nineteenth century, Duggleby Howe, near the source of the Gypsey Race in the Yorkshire Wolds, is one of the most iconic round barrow sites of the British Neolithic, not least because of Mortimer's detailed description, his schematic section and the range of prestige goods associated with the burials. Despite the re-assessment of Mortimer's archive by other authorities over the last twenty years, no absolute dates existed for this important burial sequence. This project re-examines not just the burial evidence, but also the associated earthworks of the barrow including the first geophysical and topographical survey of the surrounding causewayed enclosure. The report also provides a radiocarbon-dated chronology for the burial sequence and mound construction, as well as an assessment of the surviving human and faunal remains.