Windmill Tump

Windmill Tump, also known as Rodmarton Chambered Tomb, is a Neolithic burial site, a stone tumulus or barrow. It is a mound covering the site of graves, in the form of a cairn, located in Gloucestershire.[1][2][3] It lies to the west of the village of Rodmarton, south of the road between Cherington and Tarlton.[1] There are trees growing on the site.[1]

Entrance stones to the barrow

Description

It is approximately 21 metres (69 ft) wide and 60 metres (200 ft) long, and is oriented from east to west.[4] The construction consists of approximately 5,000 tons of stone, under a mound.[1] The only portion of the stones that can still be seen is a fake entrance, which lies at the eastern side of the mound.[1]

The site is managed by Gloucestershire County Council, under the guardianship of English Heritage.

Excavations

Digging took place in 1863, and again in 1939, after which the mound was restored.[1]

The site contains two tombs, behind the false entrance, with passageways to the north and south. The tombs contained the remains of ten adults and three children.[1] Animal remains were also uncovered, including boar tusks, horses teeth and calf jawbones.[2]

Two tombstones, were unearthed in the first dig, and these are approximately 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m) in height, and a third and larger stone was leaning against them, seemingly placed in that position.[2] It was noted at the time that this specific arrangement was similar to cromlech mounds in Kilkenny, Ireland, and in Cornwall.[2] The third stone may have been placed in this manner for use in sacrifices.[2]

Evidence of structured walls to support the cairn were also discovered. with a double-thickness wall surrounding the entire structure, and further walls providing strength in a transverse direction.[2]

Etymology

There is no evidence that a windmill ever existed in the location; instead, one possible etymology derives from the word Nant from Nantoush, meaning "The diffuser of fire or light",[2] and the English word win which has similar meaning.[5]

References
  1. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (1987), P.H. Reed (ed.), English Heritage, Hampstead Road, London: English Heritage / Macdonald Queen Anne Press, p. 84, ISBN 0-356-12773-7
  2. Samuel Lysons (1865), Our British ancestors: who and what were they?, J.H. and J. Parker
  3. Martin Watts (2000), Water and wind power, Osprey Publishing, p. 23, ISBN 978-0-7478-0418-5
  4. James Dyer (2001), Discovering Prehistoric England (2 ed.), Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7478-0507-6
  5. The Ethnological journal, Issues 1-9, Trübner & Co., 1865, p. 263, retrieved 17 November 2010
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