Excavation, Analysis and Interpretation of Early Bronze Age Barrows at Guiting Power, Gloucestershire

Excavation, Analysis and Interpretation of Early Bronze Age Barrows at Guiting Power, Gloucestershire covers the full excavation, analysis and interpretation of two early Bronze Age round barrows at Guiting Power in the Cotswolds, a region where investigation and protection of such sites have been extremely poor, with many barrows unnecessarily lost to erosion, and with most existing excavation partial, and of low quality. One monument, Guiting Power 1, typical of many others in the region in terms of general form, was investigated to assess how far surviving evidence could be used to indicate original structure, as a basis for discussion of function as a funerary and ritual site.

The project is paired with the full excavation of a larger round barrow, of similar date, nearby, at Guiting Power 3 in the valley below. Both sites have been considered within their local environment and as part of the general pattern of settlement. The monuments have also provided data for a programme of experimental investigation of prehistoric cremation.

Discovery of a post ring with well-preserved basal structures, sealed under an early bronze age round barrow at Guiting Power 3, enables detailed analysis of its structure, associations, and place in the sequence. This review of a sample of other post rings from southern and western Britain places the example from Guiting Power within its archaeological context.