Long barrow

Common card · No. 446209

Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the 5th and 4th millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period, typically made from earth and either timber or stone. Those using stone represent the oldest widespread tradition of stone construction in the world. Around 40,000 long barrows survive today. The structures have a long earthen tumulus or "barrow" that is flanked on two sides with linear ditches. These typically stretch for between 20 and 70 metres in length, although some exceptional examples are either longer or shorter than this. Some examples have a timber or stone chamber in one end of the tumulus. These monuments often contained human remains interred within their chambers and thus are often interpreted as tombs, although there are some examples where this appears not to be the case. The choice of timber or stone may have arisen from the availability of local materials rather than cultural differences. Those that contained chambers inside of them...

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