Learning Enquiry:
What is the secret of the standing stones?
Linked to Alderman’s Barrow, on Exmoor National Park.
This document is one of many free web-based resources produced as part of the
Moorland Classroom project. To explore the whole resource, including maps, video
content and ‘how to’ guides please visit:
http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/moorland-classroom
Learning Aims
Pupils will be supported in and outside of the classroom to:
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Gain an understanding of the chronology of Exmoor and in particular the
historic environment together with some cultural aspects of life associated
with the Bronze Age period
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Make links and associations between the patterns of their own lives and those
of the people of Bronze Age communities
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Appreciate that, whilst archaeology and historical interpretation of the past is
not an exact science, archaeologists have developed the skills to infer things
from the evidence that remains, allowing us to empathise with our ancestors.
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Recognise, describe and explain the moorland landscape of Exmoor and
develop a sense of how and why it has changed in the past, how it might be
changing now and how it might change in the future
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Recognise, describe and explain elements of the biodiversity of Exmoor and
in particular the significance of hedge banks both as distinctive historical
features of the landscape and important ecological habitats which can be
compared with hedgerows in the school’s local area
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Appreciate how both historic and modern day people exploit the environment
of Exmoor in order to survive and make a living
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Collect and interpret a range of qualitative and quantitative primary data
through fieldwork, which enhances understanding of the distinctive character
of the Exmoor landscape and its historic and cultural lineage
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Learning and teaching activities and curriculum progression
1. Introduction
This enquiry provides an opportunity for pupils to investigate aspects of life on
Exmoor during the Bronze Age with a focus on Alderman’s Barrow and the
unexplained stone setting, located nearby on Almsworthy Common (see
Aldermans-1-Map). Both these features are accessible from the road southwest of Lucott Cross. As well as providing a prehistoric dimension the enquiry
also presents a relevant context for exploring bank hedgerows, an important
aspect of Exmoor’s biodiversity and a distinctive feature of the landscape.
The Bronze age on Exmoor is dated between 2,000 and 700BC – in other
words between 4,000 and 2,300 years ago.
The greatest change from the earlier Mesolithic and Neolithic periods was
that people were living in settled communities and were clearing areas of
woodland in order to farm the land and growing crops and keeping livestock
such as cattle – they were no longer nomadic hunters and gatherers.
Ploughs were pulled by domesticated cattle (oxen) and wild breeds of cattle
(aurochs) became extinct. Crops such as early varieties of wheat were sown
into fields and harvested and stored.
People lived in round houses, usually just two or three in each settlement,
sometimes within a small compound or enclosure and surrounded by both
arable fields and managed grassland for animal pasture. Not much evidence
of round houses remains on the ground today on Exmoor but they are often
clearly seen on aerial photographs. The Bronze Age on Exmoor is
associated with the building of barrows and the construction of stone settings.
Barrows are round mounds where the dead were buried or their ashes placed
after cremation.
Barrows were considered to have been sacred places associated with rituals
and practices, making them an active part of the landscape rather than
‘cemeteries’ used only for burial purposes. Although stone circles and stone
rows are found throughout the country, stone settings are unique to Exmoor –
over 60 in total. Many barrows survive on Exmoor (over 400) largely because
there has been much less ploughing of the land over the last 4,000 years
compared with more lowland locations. The Bronze Age signifies the
appearance of Bronze to make items such as axe heads, daggers and
decorative torcs, brooches and beads. There are also distinctive pottery
types associated with the Bronze Age and on Exmoor the pottery discovered
is of the Trevisker Ware type, this includes urns, beakers and pots.
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1. Bronze Age Settlements
Give out Aldermans-1-Map and ask the pupils to locate Alderman’s Barrow
at the grid reference 837424. At this point do not explain what Alderman’s
Barrow is (for the moment it’s just a place on Exmoor). Explain that people
lived in and around Alderman’s Barrow about 4,000 years ago. Now give out
Aldermans-2-Great_Hill. Explain that this is what archaeologists think the
landscape looking directly east from Alderman’s Barrow may have looked like
4,000 years ago.
Ask the pupils to look carefully at the picture and describe everything they can
see. Take time to discuss with pupils their responses and in particular to
develop key vocabulary e.g. fields, hedgerows, huts, woodland, animals,
scattered trees, hills etc. Now encourage them to come up with 6 questions
each they would like to know the answers to beginning with Where, When,
Who, Why, What and How. Take feedback from the pupils and make a list on
the board. Which are the most common questions? Tell the pupils that they
are going to spend some time studying Bronze Age people who lived at
Almsworthy Common (824419) about 4,000 years ago and during the
investigation will seek to answer as many of the questions they have raised
as possible.
2. A question which will certainly be amongst those asked will be something
along the lines of: What were their homes like? Tell the pupils that the artist
has also drawn a picture from the perspective of the house in the centre of
Aldermans-2-Great_Hill looking directly back towards Alderman’s Barrow
from which the first picture was drawn. Before showing them the picture,
challenge the pupils to draw what they think the house would have looked
like. What shape is it? What do they think it would have been made from?
How many people would have lived in it? What else would have been inside?
What about immediately outside and around the building? Gain as many
clues from Aldermans-2-Great_Hill as possible. Now support the pupils to
draw both the outside of the building and the inside on a large A3 plain piece
of paper. Take plenty of time here to allow pupils to describe their buildings
together with the rationale for what they have drawn. Next give out
Aldermans-3-Round_House and Aldermans-4-View_GtHill.
Encourage the pupils to look carefully at this painting. What does it suggest
to us about the lives of Bronze Age people in and around Almsworthy
Common? For example, what did they eat? The houses of the Bronze Age
people of Exmoor were round and conical in shape, constructed using
wooden posts which supported a wall and a thatched roof of heather and
bracken which extended down below the wall, almost to the ground. Inside
would have lived extended families of perhaps 6-8 adults and children.
Wheat would have been the staple food which would have been grown in
surrounding fields and this diet would have been supplemented by cattle,
sheep, pigs and deer. Pigs would have been kept in compounds close to the
round houses with cattle grazing the pasture in fields nearby.
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3. Bronze Age Barrows
Take the pupils back to Aldermans-4-View_GtHill. Remind the pupils that
this is some idea of what the view from the round houses on Great Hill back
to Alderman’s Barrow might have looked like 4,000 years ago during the
Bronze Age. One of the people represented in the round house is looking at
Alderman’s Barrow on the horizon. So what did Alderman’s Barrow look like?
What was it? Why might it have been important to the people? Take time to
discuss ideas with the pupils and summarise key points: looks like a small
round hill or mound on the horizon – which is exactly what it was – where
bodies of members of the community or their ashes after cremation were
buried when they died. Now give the pupils Aldermans-5Aldermans_Photos; the importance of the star is explained in Field Activity 1
later on in the Enquiry. There is not much to be seen of the mound which
formed Alderman’s Barrow today. The barrow would have been
approximately 24m in diameter and probably 3-4m high – not unlike the
barrow shown in Aldermans-6-Treyford. Explain that when people were
buried in the barrow they would have been laid to rest with artefacts or
objects made by human beings. Some of these might have been of great
beauty or value e.g. such as the rich necklace of beads including some made
of amber which was discovered in a barrow at North Molton (Aldermans-7Beads) and distinctive pottery such as the Culbone beaker (Aldermans-8Beaker). Modern day replica’s of some of these items can be found in the
Moorland Classroom loan box, available from Exmoor National Park
Authority.
4. An interesting exercise to follow this is to ask the pupils to choose 10
artefacts that they would select to be buried with them in a barrow for
archaeologists to excavate in 4,000 years or so time. First of all ask the
pupils to think of all the things they would want to be buried with from their
lives today. For the sake of argument we can assume that everything will
remain preserved for 4,000 years even if it is paper or cloth.
Give the pupils plenty of time to think this through and to come to a
considered answer. After they have chosen ten things individually ask the
pupils to tell everyone else what they have chosen and why. Start preparing
a list of things in common that the pupils have selected – what things are
practical, beautiful, sentimental etc. Take time to discuss with pupils what all
the artefacts they have chosen will tell people in 4,000 years’ time about their
lives today. Are all the things material products or more personal things such
as photographs? With this exercise it is common for pupils to reflect about
their choices as they make them and discuss what others are thinking and
then to change their preferences so it is important to allow enough time to
enable this to happen.
Finally and as a summative piece, ask the pupils to write in journalistic style
genre, the front page of Western Daily News for a date in the year 6012
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announcing the amazing discovery of your burial barrow and describing the
amazing things that have been found with your remains. Before doing this it
is important to model the outcome required and the conventions of writing in
a journalistic style. Show the pupils Aldermans-9-WMN and point out the six
conventions to be followed when writing a newspaper report (see also
Aldermans-10-Media_Recount) i.e.:
o Short, sharp and snappy headline which is large and bold
o A sub headline which is underneath the headline and tells some more
about the story in equally dramatic language
o A graphic photograph to draw the reader’s attention
o A very short first paragraph which summarises the whole story and
encourages the reader to read on - usually by finishing with continued
on page 2 or see more amazing photographs on pages 7 and 8
o The story is then written in short paragraphs with short sentences in
chronological order
o A final concluding paragraph sums up the whole story which may also
give the personal view of the author or of the editor/owner of the
newspaper
5. Remind pupils that barrows such as the one close to Almsworthy Common
were not just graves or cemeteries that were just visited occasionally when
people were buried or cremated. They were almost certainly visited for rituals
and celebrations at other times throughout the year. They were also
important for the people who lived close by. They were constructed in
prominent positions e.g. on hills or ridges, where people would see them
every day and be reminded of their ancestry and the people who came before
them. It would appear also that some were built on land boundaries between
one community and another. A worthwhile exercise at this stage is to
explore with the pupils all of the ways in which communities today celebrate
our links to the past and remind each other of the people who have come
before. Give out Aldermans-11-Links which can be used as a prompt to
initiate this exercise. Consider producing a large display showing Alderman’s
Barrow and the Bronze Age community of Almsworthy Common living in
close proximity to it juxtapositioned with modern day examples from the local
community of the school which serve as links to the past in a similar way.
6. Stone Settings
Ask the pupils to look again at the map extract in Aldermans-1-Map and in
particular the stone setting indicated at 842417. Now distribute Aldermans12-Almsworthy and ask the pupils to look carefully at the images. What
shape are the stones? How have they been put into the ground?
Approximately what is their height and width? Are they the same colour?
Explain that there are 16 stones laid out in a small area of open moorland
measuring about 100m2 and they survived here for over 4,000 years –
incredible! Now show the pupils Aldermans-13-Almsworthy_Impression.
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Ask the pupils to speculate as to what the men in the artist’s reconstruction
may have been thinking and discussing as they ‘planted’ the stones. Explain
that the reason for laying out the stones is still a mystery and no one is certain
to this day what their purpose was or what they represent or symbolise. Tell
the pupils that some archaeologists believe that 4,000 years ago what is now
Almsworthy Common would not have been open moorland (as the artist’s
impression suggests) but covered with forest. This being so the stones would
probably have been laid out in a small glade or open space in the forest
where no trees were growing and sunlight would be shining in – rather than
open moorland. Some suggest that there may have been a spring or stream
here at the time as well. Discuss with the pupils how this might change their
view of the purpose of the stones?
Next give each pupil a plain sheet of A3 paper and ask them to draw what
they think the stones may have looked like 4,000 years ago in a sunny forest
glade with water. How might the people have thought about them, what
might they have symbolised and why might they then walk from where they
were living into the forest to be with the stones? Is it possible that their main
function was aesthetic – even a ‘garden’ like arrangement where people may
have gone just to relax, think or contemplate away from the pretty harsh
regime of life on the outside?
A possible extension of this idea is to consider looking at modern societies
where the laying out of rocks and stones in an aesthetic way is an important
aspect of the culture – such as Japan. In Japan Karesansui (rock gardens)
have been an important cultural aspect of life for thousands of years. In a
rock garden symbolism is very important with raked sand and gravel
symbolising rivers and groups of stone or rock symbolising islands. Above all
the overall arrangement of rocks is a symbolic expression of religious
Buddism and Shinto beliefs. A very good example of a traditional Japanese
rock garden can be seen at Ryonanji in the city of Kyoto (Aldermans-14Japan).
7. The Bronze Age Hut Circle
Close to the stone settings on Almsworthy Common can be seen the remains
of a Bronze Age round house (or to use the archaeological term hut circle),
the outline of which can be seen very clearly on aerial photographs – see
Aldermans-15-Hut. On Exmoor archaeologists and historians often find that
aerial photographs provide a much clearer view and impression of old sites
than can be gained from a survey on the ground.
Why do the pupils think this is? Ask the pupils to look at the four aerial
photographs of different places on Exmoor (Aldermans-16-Aerial_Photos)
and to try to work out what each is showing – Shoulsbury Castle (Iron Age
Fort), Peat cuttings at Blackpitts, Slocomslade World War 2 military camp and
Furzebury Brake Iron Age enclosure.
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8. The role of Hedges in the Moorland landscape.
Exmoor’s hedges play a key part in defining the landscape character of the
Exmoor National Park and surrounding area. They contribute to agricultural
management by providing shelter to livestock and crops, support valuable
wildlife habitats and are an important historical record of human activity. The
small fields within Exmoor’s valleys are typically bounded by mixed species
hedges and medieval banks. These are valuable for wildlife, supporting a
diverse range of plants and animals. On the higher moorland areas such as
Almsworthy Common earth and stone faced beech hedge banks are
characteristic and originated during the periods of common land enclosures
about 200 years ago. At Almsworthy Common the original beech hedge bank
to the south east of Alderman’s Barrow has been left to grow and lines of
beech trees now define where the hedge used to be as can be seen in
Aldermans-17-Hedges.
There is now an opportunity to do some hedgerow focused investigations in
the local area of the school to compare with the hedge banks at Almsworthy
Common.
9. Give out the set of nine photograph shrub cards (Aldermans-18-Shrubs) to
pupils working in pairs and also the list of nine names on the final sheet which
they can use to match to the images. Are there any which they recognise
e.g. Holly and can match up immediately? The remaining identification can
be done through searching online for images of each of the shrubs. Now give
out the answers in Aldermans-19-Shrubs_Answers and get the pupils to
compare with their answers and identify what might cause mistaken
identification. Talk to pupils about how Exmoor hedges contain such a rich
variety of shrubs and trees which are amazingly important for wildlife such as
birds and insects.
10. Give out the sheet which provides the approximate date that hedges with 1-9
species in it would have been “born” e.g. 4 species 440 years and 8 species
880 years etc. (Aldermans-20-Hooper). Each of the number of species
equates to an historical date e.g., a hedge with 5 species within it would have
been “born” in 1461. The pupils will have dated a number of hedges locally
and can now use the table as a means of beginning an historical
investigation. First of all give then the images of 10 monarchs of England that
were reigning in each of the years 1901, 1791, 1681 etc. (Aldermans-21Monarchs) Do they recognise any of the monarchs e.g. Queen Victoria?
Support can be provided by giving children the names of the monarchs for
them to research and then match to the correct date.
11. Images a - I (Aldermans-22-History) are of historical events that occurred on
each of the dates 1901, 1791, 1681 etc. Can the children match up any of
the events to any of the dates? Further research, if required, into each of the
events will provide a match up with the correct dates. There is now an
opportunity to investigate in more detail through an enquiry one or more of the
historical events which occurred on each of the dates 1901, 1791, 1681 etc.
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For example:
How did Britain change during Queen Victoria’s reign?
Why was there a revolution in France?
What was life like for ordinary people during the reign of Elizabeth 1st?
Was Christopher Columbus the greatest explorer of all time?
How did people try to protect themselves from the Black Death?
Why did Henry III fight the Welsh?
Why are there so many wonderful cathedrals in England?
Who were the Vikings?
12. Find more excellent ideas and investigations about hedgerows in the
OPAL
Biodiversity
Survey
Pack.
Please
visit
www.OPALexplorenature.org to download their resources or to contact the
OPAL staff.
Almsworthy Common on location: fieldwork opportunities to support
Alderman’s Barrow Learning Enquiry
Equipment Checklist
In addition to the usual materials for writing and drawing including some A3
drawing paper, the following specialist equipment is required to support the
fieldwork activities:
 Fieldwork Activity 1 – – A large tape measure to support the
pupils estimates of size.
 Fieldwork Activity 3 – A magnetic compass. Ideally one for each
pair of pupils.
Directions
Alderman’s Barrow and Almsworthy Common are accessible by coach (drop
off at Lucott Cross SS845432) with a 1km walk along the minor road to
Alderman’s Barrow. If a minibus is used then it can drive all the way to
Alderman’s Barrow which is beside the road. A walk and activities of an hour
and a half or so here can begin at Alderman’s Barrow itself. In poor weather
the route can be very exposed and wet and cold and it goes without saying
that it should be walked by teachers in advance of the visit by pupils.
Fieldwork Activity 1 – Sizing the Barrow
Ask the pupils what they think the post with a star sign on the top is doing
alongside the barrow and discuss different ideas. During the Second World
War there was a good deal of weapons testing and tank training on Exmoor
and important antiquities were marked with a star sign to tell gunnery crews to
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avoid using them as attractive targets! Whilst at the barrow ask the pupils to
stand around the perimeter and estimate its diameter by pacing out the
distance – approximately 29m. Also approximately how high is the barrow
today? Given the diameter and present day height they have estimated, how
high do they think it might have been when constructed?
Ask the children to look in at the centre of the barrow. Here an irregular pit
has been dug about 8m across and 0.7m deep. Why do they think this was
dug? The answer could be that it was dug by robbers. What would they have
been hoping to find?
While at the barrow encourage the pupils to look around 360’. From how far
away would Alderman’s Barrow have been seen? Is it in a prominent
position? Why might that be? Explain to the pupils that the barrow was not
just a grave for bodies and ashes of the dead. It was also a very important
symbol to the people of the Bronze Age living on and around Almsworthy .
Common – their link to their ancestors and an important place probably for
rituals and celebrations. What rituals and celebrations might the Bronze age
people have organised 4,000 years ago around Alderman’s Barrow? Ask the
pupils to think about what would have been important in the lives of people
then - changes in the seasons perhaps e.g. the arrival of Spring, the birth of
children as well of course as burial rites.
Fieldwork Activity 2 – Hedge Banks
From Alderman’s Barrow follow the track beside the hedge bank to the south
east taking time to stop and look at the makeup of the bank. From what has it
been constructed? Originally it would have been planted out with beech
saplings that would have been laid or coppiced to keep it to about 2m high
and thick. It has not been managed at all for many years and as a result
mature beech trees have grown up along the top of the bank. The soil to
make the bank would have needed to have been excavated from somewhere
and one possibility is the sunken grassy hollow on the right after about 800m
some 30m off the track to the right and defined by some raised humps. Take
time to discuss with pupils why a bank was needed to plant the beech
saplings in? Why were they not just planted in the ground?
One reason is that soils are shallow and without depth the plants would have
remained stunted. The hollow here is a great place to have a snack and
together the pupils together to describe and explain activities.
Fieldwork Activity 3 – Mapping the Stones
Returning to the hedge bank continue to follow it (approximately 400m) to the
corner where the fence turns away to the left. At this point turn back north west on an obvious track. Within a 100m or so the pupils will begin to
encounter the standing stones which are just visible above the heather.
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Divide the pupils into pairs and set each pair the task of finding a stone in the
heather and standing by it.
Once all of the stones have been located set the pupils the task of mapping
the pattern that the stones make. Still with the pupils standing by each of the
stones challenge them to think what the pattern of how they are standing
would look like directly from above. Tell them that this is the pattern that
needs to be recorded. Each pair can work together to produce their pattern.
Beginning with the stone they are at in the middle of their piece of paper,
pace out the distance to all of the other stones and start to mark them on their
plan. Using an A3 piece of paper they will need to be supported to work out a
scale e.g. 1cm = I pace.
If enough compasses are available then the pupils can calculate the compass
direction of each stone as well as it distance from their central stone. Each of
the finished plans can be collected in and analysed back at school with each
pair being invited to display their pattern and describe what they think the
pattern may be. Is there a pattern to the stones and if so what might the
pattern mean?
Fieldwork Activity 4 – Reconstructing a hut circle
Continuing on from the stones along the track which makes its way back to
the road. After about 400m from the stones look out for the outline of the
Bronze Age hut circle to the right of the path. An almost circular mound can
be seen made out of heaped up earth and turf. This would have been
removed to make the flat interior of the hut and the wooden posts supporting
the hut would have been place inside of the mound and not on it.
Point out the gap in the mound which would have been the doorway to the
hut. After explaining to the pupils that the hut would have been held up by
wooden posts and have had a roof of thatched heather and ferns that
reached down beyond the wall to almost ground level, and a hole in the top to
let out the smoke from the fire – challenge to the children to draw their own
reconstruction of what the hut would have looked like when it was originally
built.
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Learning outcomes
Through the range of learning and teaching activities the pupils have
opportunities to:
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Recognise and identify
Express views and ask questions
Respond to simple questions
Observe and describe
Select appropriate information
Undertake simple subject based tasks
Use simple subject vocabulary
Compare and contrast
Offer reasons
Use basic subject skills
Use secondary evidence
Communicate views and opinions
Use appropriate subject vocabulary
Understand natural patterns and processes
Understand human patterns and processes
Demonstrate understanding through explanation
Use a range of subject skills
Suggest enquiry questions and investigate them
Use primary evidence
Select information to answer an enquiry
Identify, describe and explain patterns, processes, links and
relationships
Reach conclusions and make judgements
Reach substantiated conclusions consistent with the evidence which
draw on the application of attitudes and values
Critical evaluate both the enquiry process and conclusions reached for
validity and trustworthiness
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