Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Investigation of a Bronze Age mound on Thursley Common
DAVID GRAHAM, AUDREY GRAHAM and PATRICIA WILTSHIRE
Following excavations in 1959, it was claimed that the two mounds close to the southern edge of the bog on Thursley Common, were not Bronze Age tumuli, as had previously been reported, but were in fact sand dunes. It was further suggested that most such mounds on the Surrey heathlands were of similar origin. Limited re-investigation of the western mound in 1995, however, revealed clear evidence of loose turf stack construction, for the presence of an external ditch and at least one possible primary burial. Palynological analysis of samples taken from the turves and buried soil levels indicate that the mound was likely to have been constructed in the Early/Middle Bronze Age. There is therefore no doubt that the mound is artificial and that it is almost certainly a barrow. It is highly likely therefore that the second mound, 180m to the east, is also of Bronze Age date and consequently that care should be taken before assuming that all such mounds are of natural origin.
