R2R 06 26/10/09 08:45 Page 96 5 The Seathwaite Tarn Ring Cairns Excavation 5.1 An Overview Bronze Age ring cairns in Britain function would appear to have been for ceremonies Ring cairns are ceremonial monuments that were con- or rituals, sometimes connected with burial, which structed in the upland areas of Britain in the Bronze involved the spreading or burial of charcoal and Age, between about 2,000 and 1,000 BC. Examples are burnt soil. known from Dartmoor, Wales, the Pennines and Scot- The ceremonial function of ring cairns is also land and investigations have revealed both common suggested by their association with other monuments features and some regional variation. and their location in the landscape. Many ring cairns In its most simple form the ring cairn is a are situated within or close to barrow cemeteries (for monument comprising a generally circular bank of example, in Wales) or adjacent to stone circles (for stones with diameters ranging from as little as 3 example, in north east Scotland). Many are positioned metres up to about 30 metres, enclosing a flat central so that there are spectacular landscape views from the area. The stone banks are usually between 1.5 and site, but conversely the monuments themselves are 3 metres wide and up to 0.5 metres high. They are not easy to see from a distance. There is also an unlikely to have been much higher when originally association with water, which is known to have constructed. Sometimes a kerb of large stones was strong ritual or ceremonial significance in the Bronze placed on the inside or outside edges of the bank Age. and the flat central area often contains small pits Ring cairns are often confused with other remains filled with charcoal and other material such as sherds and vice versa. Erosion or robbing of other types of of pottery. In some cases cremation burials were sites such as burial or clearance cairns can cause placed in the centre of ring cairns, often in pottery confusion and the simple circular layout and often vessels under small mounds. However excavation crude construction of the ring cairn can often be con- has suggested that burial was not their primary fused with stone-walled sheep bields or shepherds’ function and if it did take place, it was after the ring bothies. cairn had been in use for some time. Their primary 96 R2R 06 26/10/09 08:45 Page 97 The Seathwaite Tarn Ring Cairns Excavation | 97 Ring cairns in the Lake District including additional examples around Seathwaite Tarn. Ring cairns have been recognised in the Lake District The ring cairns in the high Lake District fells for some time and the Lake District Historic Environ- display many of the characteristics of ring cairns ment Record (HER) currently holds records for some elsewhere in Britain but also have some charac- 118 sites within the National Park. Some of these are teristics which may be unique to the group. The likely to be misidentified, but equally there may be first is their distribution which is as single, isolated other sites recorded as bields or hut circles which may sites or in groups of similar monuments. Two of the in fact be ring cairns. largest groups are found to the southeast of Stickle The Lake District ring cairns appear to fall into Tarn in the Langdale Fells and around Seathwaite two broad groups. The first and larger group are Tarn in the Duddon Valley. The individual sites are located on the lower fells, up to about 250 metres scattered widely throughout the central fells. above sea level and are associated with a variety of Another possible local characteristic is the other types of monuments. Some are located close to juxtaposition in some cases of a larger ring cairn with clearance cairnfields (e.g. on Stockdale Moor and a much smaller satellite ring cairn. The two excavated Heathwaite Fell) while others are associated with examples at Lead Pike are an example of this. A small other ceremonial monuments such as standing stones number of sites, including the larger ring cairn at Lead and funerary cairns (e.g. Askham Fell). Pike and another on the northwest side of Seathwaite The second, smaller group of Lake District ring Tarn, also have extensions or annexes added to their cairns are located much higher in the fells, up to southeast sides. heights of 500 metres or more above sea level and Although many ring cairns are located so as to have these sites tend to be isolated or associated only with spectacular views, this is particularly apparent with the other ring cairns. sites in the Lake District fells. Here the emphasis The sites in this second group, presently numbering appears to be on views to prominent summits of just over 40, were identified by Peter Rodgers, a adjacent fells. Examples include ring cairns in the retired Area Manager for the Lake District National Langdale valley with specific views to Pike of Stickle; Park Authority. Peter identified some of these sites a ring cairn on Armboth Fell with a clear view to the while working for the LDNPA and since his summit of Helvellyn; and the larger ring cairn at Lead retirement he has devoted much time to scouring the Pike, Seathwaite Tarn, which is positioned so that an high fells for further examples. He has single-handedly observer standing in the centre of the cairn can view defined a discrete class of prehistoric monument in the the summit of Harter Fell through a gap in an adjacent Lake District which had barely been recognised before rock outcrop (Photo 66). he started his fieldwork. His discoveries included the A further characteristic of the location of many of two ring cairns at Lead Pike, Seathwaite Tarn, which the Lake District sites is a very close association with were excavated as part of the R2R project. water, including tarns and becks. Many of the Peter has played an important role in the R2R individual ring cairns were constructed close to project, helping the survey teams to identify a number running water, and often in the higher reaches or near of new ring cairn sites in the Duddon Valley, the source of becks running down the fellside. Others, R2R 06 26/10/09 08:45 Page 98 98 | Seathwaite Tarn Ring Cairns Excavation Photo 66 The larger ring cairn at Lead Pike, Seathwaite Tarn, with view to the summit of Harter Fell through a gap in an adjacent rock outcrop such as the Lead Pike sites, were positioned closely annular or pennanular rings of stone to a large boulder adjacent to small tarns, some of which have now dried (see Chapter 6). This is sometimes the case with the up or developed into peat bog. However the clearest smaller, satellite ring cairns. During the excavation of examples of this phenomenon are the sites that are the larger ring cairn at Lead Pike, it was found that part located around larger tarns filling glacial corries in the of the circuit of the cairn bank comprised large earth- high fells. These include the groups at Stickle and fast boulders. Other ring cairns appear to surround Seathwaite Tarns and individual examples at Levers natural peat covered mounds. Water and Low Water in the Coniston Fells. Another clear indication of the importance of the The excavations at Lead Pike, Seathwaite Tarn natural environment and natural features is the frequent incorporation of large earth-fast boulders in In 2003 Peter Rodgers had reported the majority of the banks of ring cairns, or the attaching of small his discoveries of ring cairns to the National Park R2R 06 26/10/09 08:45 Page 99 The Seathwaite Tarn Ring Cairns Excavation | 99 Authority archaeologists and discussions had begun discussions that took place in 2005 between the regarding further possible research. Although some LDNPA and the Duddon Valley Local History Group similar monuments had been excavated both within that led to the development of the Ring Cairns to and adjacent to the Lake District, it was quickly Reservoirs project. A second major season of realised that the group of ring cairns in the Lake excavation was subsequently undertaken in July 2007 District high fells formed a discrete sub-group and that as part of the R2R project. This was co-directed by there was no clear indication of their date or function. John Hodgson (National Park Senior Archaeologist) The LDNPA archaeologists therefore decided to and Alastair Vannan (Oxford Archaeology North). mount a small trial excavation of a ring cairn in order The excavation team comprised over 30 volunteers to provide information to answer these basic ques- from the Duddon Valley Local History Group and a tions. The large ring cairn at Lead Pike, Seathwaite group of five students from Durham University. Tarn, was chosen because it displayed characteristics typical of the group (that is, it had a small satellite cairn, Description of the excavations a deliberate positioning with a view to a summit peak, proximity to water and it formed part of the significant The ring cairns at Lead Pike are located on a low grouping around Seathwaite Tarn). It was also rela- promontory of land surrounded on three sides by peat tively easy to access via the reservoir track and pollen bog that is often covered in standing water. The analysis of samples from sediments in Seathwaite Tarn monuments comprise a large ring cairn (Cairn 1), in the 1960s had provided some basic information with an adjacent satellite cairn to the west (Cairn 2) about the vegetational history of the general area.