NHER 44860 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Possible Neolithic long barrow or mortuary enclosure site

July 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a possible Neolithic long barrow or mortuary enclosure site are visible on aerial photographs within arable to the north of Low Farm, Aldeby (S1). The site is centred on TM 4551 9611. Another enclosure 30m to the immediate north (NHER 44859) could also represent a Neolithic mortuary site, although this is more likely to be an Iron Age to Roman date enclosure, see NHER 44859 for discussion. These enclosures would have been located on a slight knoll of higher ground, which sits on the lower slopes of the valley side, overlooking the broad valley floor to the north. It is not known whether this enclosure ever had a central mound, it is possible that the ditches merely define a mortuary enclosure where rites associated with the dead were conducted.

The possible long barrow or mortuary enclosure is defined by a sub-rectangular, elongated ditched enclosure, measuring 40m by between 10-18m. The northern end is much narrower than the rest. The monument is defined by a double ditch in places. The dimensions of this possible mortuary enclosure or long barrow are quite small by national standards, but it fits well within the size range of other known Norfolk sites, such as NHER 27173, plus examples recorded in Lincolnshire (S2). A linear ditch is visible within the enclosure, although it is possible that this relates to a different phase of activity. A small elongated ditched feature appears to be to form a conjoined to the southwestern ditch of the enclosure, measuring 9m by 3.5m. It is most likely that this is a later addition to the site or perhaps completely unrelated and may be part of a group of boundaries and enclosures to the west (NHER 44864).

An additional elongated enclosure may also be visible to the immediate north, although these ditches are too fragmentary to be certain as they could relate a completely unrelated monument. This second enclosure is suggested by two ditches that form a possible terminus of a similarly aligned and proportioned enclosure, 15m wide and of unknown length. The cropmarks are quite faint and the full extent of the features are obscured to the north by areas of differential soil depth and alluvium.

These cropmarks are located within a larger multi-phase spread of cropmarks, recorded under NHER 44867.
S. Massey (NMP), 18 July 2006.