Monument record MDO2276 - Bronze Age barrow on Tulk's Hill, Puncknowle

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, one of six barrows on the top of Tulk's Hill. This monument was reported in 1952 as being 33 feet in diameter with a mound about 2.5 feet high. It was excavated in 1959 for the Ministry of Works by E Greenfield, who found a cremation in a bucket urn in a small pit covered by a cairn, and six later interments. The feature is visible on aerial photographs and was digitally plotted for the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

Bowl barrows. 'A' - Diameter 15 paces, height 3ft. <2>

'A' - Bowl barrow under the plough. Diameter 18.0m, height 0.6m. Large stones have been ploughed up at the centre of the barrow, but there is no visible ditch. <4>

Bowl barrows, Puncknowle 5-9, details as Authy 2. Barrow 'A' (No 6) was excavated by E Greenfield in 1959 for the Ministry of Works. A primary cremation in a bucket urn surrounded by 3 stone slabs lay in a small pit. The interment was covered by a small cairn which was overlaid by a mound of clay revetted by an outer cairn of stones. Near the south and west parts of the circumference were six secondary interments. Finds in Dorset County Museum, Accn No 1962-12.3. <5> <6> <8>

Barrow 'A' was excavated in 1959, and revealed a centrally located primary cremation of an adult of unknown sex in a bucket urn. It was surrounded by three shales surmounted by a capstone. This was sealed by a mound of clay. Six secondary burials were discovered on the edge of the barrow. Full excavation report. <9>

The feature is visible on aerial photographs <10> and was digitally plotted for the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 54168710) Tumulus (NR)

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document). SWX1556.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 191 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(11) Barrows, on the ridge of Tulk's Hill, 1 to 1½ m. S.E. of the church, are six in number. The most westerly (a), 580 yards S. of (8), is a bowl barrow 33 ft. in diam. and 2½ ft. high.’

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 07-APR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<5> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 129 (Monograph). SDO132.

<6> Prehistoric Society, 1960, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 26, 343 (Serial). SDO19733.

<7> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1968 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 54168710) Tumulus (NR)

<8> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 49 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<9> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 63-76 (Serial). SDO84.

<10> 06-OCT-2000, NMR SY5487/33 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12163.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450517 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 12:54PM