Europe, British Isles, North-Central England, Staffordshire, Wetton, Three Lows
Three Lows, Wetton is in Wetton, Staffordshire.
Europe, British Isles, North-Central England, Staffordshire, Wetton, Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map]
Three Lows Barrow 1 is also in Peak District Bronze Age Barrows.
Thomas Bateman 1845. On the 7th of June 1845, was opened a large barrow near Wetton in Staffordshire, situated upon a piece of ground called the Three Lowes [Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map], Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]], which, as its name would signify, no doubt contains that number of tumuli; indeed there is a small one within fifty yards of the one now about to be described. In the centre was a cist, about eighteen inches deep, cut in the natural rock, which, the height of the barrow being included, was about five feet from the surface; in this cist was a human skeleton, which had evidently been interred in a sitting position, and whose left arm had been broken, and the bones united again in a very crooked form. By the side of this skeleton was a coarse urn in a very decayed state, having never been properly baked; dose to this nm lay a deposit of calcined human bones, amongst which was an instrument of flint, also burnt; a few inches above the cist, part of another urn, enriched with a lozenge-shaped ornament, and part of another human skull were found. In another part of the interior of the barrow were the remains of a large fire covering the floor for a considerable space; amongst which were many imperfectly burnt human bones, which had never been collected together, but had been left amongst the charcoal; upon this stratum of bones and ashes was laid the skeleton of a young person, aged about fourteen, with whom a rude arrow-head of flint was deposited; about six inches above this skeleton was another, which was that of an infant. In another part of this tumulus there was an adult skeleton, which had been previously disturbed; in various situations in the barrow, but more especially towards the outer part of the circle, were portions of red deer's horns and in one instance a perfect pair was found, which it was impossible to preserve complete, on account of their advanced state of decomposition; with them three flint arrow-heads of the rudest form were found, and in the immediate neighbourhood bones of dogs and rats; near the surface in the centre were collected remains of three ornamented urns, or drinking-cups, which had been destroyed by some former excavators, most probably lead miners, who had dug into this tumulus from a mistaken notion of its origin.
Cotton. October 13th, we opened a barrow at Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]?], between Cotton and Ramshom, which is a flat mound, sixteen yards across. We first removed a large space in the centre, where it was much intermixed with stone. At the natural level was a layer of grey earth a few inches thick, so compact as not to be penetrable by the spade, which was succeeded by soft red earth, covering a pavement of flat stones, where we found a small piece of fused lead. Proceeding northward, we perceived the stratum of grey earth to be broken up and mixed with charcoal, and found a good instrument of flint. Abandoning the north side, we excavated towards the south, and shortly discovered an interment of calcined bones, spread upon a layer of charcoal; they contained a spear-point of calcined flint, and two arrow-heads of the same material, unburnt.
Wetton. On the 8th of December we reopened the smaller of the barrows at Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]?], which was examined without any decisive result, in the summer of 1848. We now discovered two interments in it, the principal being deposited in a cist made of four thin stones in the centre, close to where the former cutting was discontinued. Its dimensions were twenty inches long, seventeen wide, and twenty deep. It contained a deposit of calcined bones, with which were two neat pointed instruments of flint, a bone pin, and part of a small vase of dark-coloured clay, 3¾ inches diameter, with a broad border two inches deep, very carefully ornamented: all these, including the vase, had passed through the fire - that, probably, which had consumed the dead; and it was owing to this that the whole of the vase was not to be found. South from the cist was the skeleton of an aged person, lying within a foot of the surface, surrounded and covered with stones, the head pointing north-west. Nothing was found with it. Outside the cist we observed two pieces of pottery and two flints. The mound was composed of earth, sprinkled with charcoal in all parts except where the interments had been laid.
Wetton. The largest barrow at Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]?], near Wetton, opened, as far as the central part is concerned, on the 7th of June, 1845, was now fully investigated on the evenings of the 4th, 10th, 12th, and 13th of June, by a trench cut round the former excavation, so as to expose a considerable space between it and the outside of the mound. We began at the west side, and found, first, an imperfect armlet of thick bronze wire; next, a noble pair of red deer's horns, with part of the skull attached to one of them, and having with them a neat arrow-head of flint. Proceeding onward, we found many pieces of a large urn, with the burnt bones it had contained; and on the 13th we discovered the place where it had been first placed, part of the bottom still remaining in situ. Amongst earth blackened by the admixture of ashes, here were found a very neat barbed arrow-head, and a remarkably fine spear-head or dagger of flint, upwards of five inches long, without the point, which is missing. The latter has been so much calcined as to present a dark-coloured vitrified surface, exhibiting numberless cracks precisely similar to Cracklin porcelain; where broken, it shows a white interior. We had before found two calcined flint spear-heads of smaller size, and a round instrument which may also have been originally deposited with tlie burnt bones. Fragments of many urns, some tastefully ornamented, burnt and unburnt haman bones, large pieces of stags' horns, and flakes of flint, were found in all parts of tbe mound, but most plentifully on the south and west sides. The unusual number of stags' horns of the largest size found in this barrow on both occasions is very remarkable. They indicate the hunter-life of its occupants, naturally resulting from the fiudlity with which a regular supply of large game could be obtained before the country was to any great extent brought under cultivation.
Sheen. On the 11th of July we examined a third barrow, at Three Lows, Wetton [Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map], Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]], in a line with the two previously opened. It is a large shallow mound, and yielded nothing but charcoal, although several trenches were made in it.
Lady Low. The next barrow is situated in a plantation between Ramshom and Cotton, near one opened in a field called Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]], on the 30th of October, 1849 [Note. A mistake for 13 Oct 1849?]. The present barrow measures 22 yards in diameter, and is about 18 inches high in the middle, but is encircled by a more elevated ring, varying firom 3 to 6 feet in height. On the natural level, in the centre, were a few burnt bones, with charcoal; and beneath the south-east segment of tiie ring were more calcined bones and charcoal. Only one small piece of flint was found. The mound was composed of earth and stones, the latter forming a kind of pavement.
Europe, British Isles, North-Central England, Staffordshire, Wetton, Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]
Three Lows Barrow 2 is also in Peak District Bronze Age Barrows.
Thomas Bateman 1845. On the 7th of June 1845, was opened a large barrow near Wetton in Staffordshire, situated upon a piece of ground called the Three Lowes [Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map], Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]], which, as its name would signify, no doubt contains that number of tumuli; indeed there is a small one within fifty yards of the one now about to be described. In the centre was a cist, about eighteen inches deep, cut in the natural rock, which, the height of the barrow being included, was about five feet from the surface; in this cist was a human skeleton, which had evidently been interred in a sitting position, and whose left arm had been broken, and the bones united again in a very crooked form. By the side of this skeleton was a coarse urn in a very decayed state, having never been properly baked; dose to this nm lay a deposit of calcined human bones, amongst which was an instrument of flint, also burnt; a few inches above the cist, part of another urn, enriched with a lozenge-shaped ornament, and part of another human skull were found. In another part of the interior of the barrow were the remains of a large fire covering the floor for a considerable space; amongst which were many imperfectly burnt human bones, which had never been collected together, but had been left amongst the charcoal; upon this stratum of bones and ashes was laid the skeleton of a young person, aged about fourteen, with whom a rude arrow-head of flint was deposited; about six inches above this skeleton was another, which was that of an infant. In another part of this tumulus there was an adult skeleton, which had been previously disturbed; in various situations in the barrow, but more especially towards the outer part of the circle, were portions of red deer's horns and in one instance a perfect pair was found, which it was impossible to preserve complete, on account of their advanced state of decomposition; with them three flint arrow-heads of the rudest form were found, and in the immediate neighbourhood bones of dogs and rats; near the surface in the centre were collected remains of three ornamented urns, or drinking-cups, which had been destroyed by some former excavators, most probably lead miners, who had dug into this tumulus from a mistaken notion of its origin.
Cotton. October 13th, we opened a barrow at Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]?], between Cotton and Ramshom, which is a flat mound, sixteen yards across. We first removed a large space in the centre, where it was much intermixed with stone. At the natural level was a layer of grey earth a few inches thick, so compact as not to be penetrable by the spade, which was succeeded by soft red earth, covering a pavement of flat stones, where we found a small piece of fused lead. Proceeding northward, we perceived the stratum of grey earth to be broken up and mixed with charcoal, and found a good instrument of flint. Abandoning the north side, we excavated towards the south, and shortly discovered an interment of calcined bones, spread upon a layer of charcoal; they contained a spear-point of calcined flint, and two arrow-heads of the same material, unburnt.
Wetton. On the 8th of December we reopened the smaller of the barrows at Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]?], which was examined without any decisive result, in the summer of 1848. We now discovered two interments in it, the principal being deposited in a cist made of four thin stones in the centre, close to where the former cutting was discontinued. Its dimensions were twenty inches long, seventeen wide, and twenty deep. It contained a deposit of calcined bones, with which were two neat pointed instruments of flint, a bone pin, and part of a small vase of dark-coloured clay, 3¾ inches diameter, with a broad border two inches deep, very carefully ornamented: all these, including the vase, had passed through the fire - that, probably, which had consumed the dead; and it was owing to this that the whole of the vase was not to be found. South from the cist was the skeleton of an aged person, lying within a foot of the surface, surrounded and covered with stones, the head pointing north-west. Nothing was found with it. Outside the cist we observed two pieces of pottery and two flints. The mound was composed of earth, sprinkled with charcoal in all parts except where the interments had been laid.
Wetton. The largest barrow at Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]?], near Wetton, opened, as far as the central part is concerned, on the 7th of June, 1845, was now fully investigated on the evenings of the 4th, 10th, 12th, and 13th of June, by a trench cut round the former excavation, so as to expose a considerable space between it and the outside of the mound. We began at the west side, and found, first, an imperfect armlet of thick bronze wire; next, a noble pair of red deer's horns, with part of the skull attached to one of them, and having with them a neat arrow-head of flint. Proceeding onward, we found many pieces of a large urn, with the burnt bones it had contained; and on the 13th we discovered the place where it had been first placed, part of the bottom still remaining in situ. Amongst earth blackened by the admixture of ashes, here were found a very neat barbed arrow-head, and a remarkably fine spear-head or dagger of flint, upwards of five inches long, without the point, which is missing. The latter has been so much calcined as to present a dark-coloured vitrified surface, exhibiting numberless cracks precisely similar to Cracklin porcelain; where broken, it shows a white interior. We had before found two calcined flint spear-heads of smaller size, and a round instrument which may also have been originally deposited with tlie burnt bones. Fragments of many urns, some tastefully ornamented, burnt and unburnt haman bones, large pieces of stags' horns, and flakes of flint, were found in all parts of tbe mound, but most plentifully on the south and west sides. The unusual number of stags' horns of the largest size found in this barrow on both occasions is very remarkable. They indicate the hunter-life of its occupants, naturally resulting from the fiudlity with which a regular supply of large game could be obtained before the country was to any great extent brought under cultivation.
Sheen. On the 11th of July we examined a third barrow, at Three Lows, Wetton [Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map], Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]], in a line with the two previously opened. It is a large shallow mound, and yielded nothing but charcoal, although several trenches were made in it.
Lady Low. The next barrow is situated in a plantation between Ramshom and Cotton, near one opened in a field called Three Lows [Either Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map]], on the 30th of October, 1849 [Note. A mistake for 13 Oct 1849?]. The present barrow measures 22 yards in diameter, and is about 18 inches high in the middle, but is encircled by a more elevated ring, varying firom 3 to 6 feet in height. On the natural level, in the centre, were a few burnt bones, with charcoal; and beneath the south-east segment of tiie ring were more calcined bones and charcoal. Only one small piece of flint was found. The mound was composed of earth and stones, the latter forming a kind of pavement.
Europe, British Isles, North-Central England, Staffordshire, Wetton, Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]
Three Lows Barrow 3 is also in Peak District Bronze Age Barrows.
Thomas Bateman 1845. On the 7th of June 1845, was opened a large barrow near Wetton in Staffordshire, situated upon a piece of ground called the Three Lowes [Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map], Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]], which, as its name would signify, no doubt contains that number of tumuli; indeed there is a small one within fifty yards of the one now about to be described. In the centre was a cist, about eighteen inches deep, cut in the natural rock, which, the height of the barrow being included, was about five feet from the surface; in this cist was a human skeleton, which had evidently been interred in a sitting position, and whose left arm had been broken, and the bones united again in a very crooked form. By the side of this skeleton was a coarse urn in a very decayed state, having never been properly baked; dose to this nm lay a deposit of calcined human bones, amongst which was an instrument of flint, also burnt; a few inches above the cist, part of another urn, enriched with a lozenge-shaped ornament, and part of another human skull were found. In another part of the interior of the barrow were the remains of a large fire covering the floor for a considerable space; amongst which were many imperfectly burnt human bones, which had never been collected together, but had been left amongst the charcoal; upon this stratum of bones and ashes was laid the skeleton of a young person, aged about fourteen, with whom a rude arrow-head of flint was deposited; about six inches above this skeleton was another, which was that of an infant. In another part of this tumulus there was an adult skeleton, which had been previously disturbed; in various situations in the barrow, but more especially towards the outer part of the circle, were portions of red deer's horns and in one instance a perfect pair was found, which it was impossible to preserve complete, on account of their advanced state of decomposition; with them three flint arrow-heads of the rudest form were found, and in the immediate neighbourhood bones of dogs and rats; near the surface in the centre were collected remains of three ornamented urns, or drinking-cups, which had been destroyed by some former excavators, most probably lead miners, who had dug into this tumulus from a mistaken notion of its origin.
Sheen. On the 11th of July we examined a third barrow, at Three Lows, Wetton [Three Lows Barrow 1 [Map], Three Lows Barrow 2 [Map] or Three Lows Barrow 3 [Map]], in a line with the two previously opened. It is a large shallow mound, and yielded nothing but charcoal, although several trenches were made in it.