Ebberston Moor
prehistoric 'pit-alignment' boundaries on Ebberston Moor, on the southern fringe of the North York Moors. The survey was carried out in partnership with the North York Moors National Park Authority, which is working to protect these rare and important remains for future generations. At first sight, the design of these linear earthworks seems completely alien to what most of us today would think of as the common sense concept of 'bank and ditch'. Yet similar earthworks were constructed throughout England, often linking natural landmarks such as valleys and escarpments: they probably functioned as boundaries defining prehistoric territories. Most examples of 'pit alignment' boundaries have been identified by aerial photography, which often highlights the crop marks and soil marks of the pits. Very few examples surviving as earthworks have been recorded, let alone analysed in detail by surface survey. The high quality of earthwork preservation on Ebberston Moor suggests this group may be of outstanding importance in understanding the evolution of this type of prehistoric monument.
The investigation identified two new alignments in addition to three that were first recorded by map-makers in the 19th century, but subsequently lost from memory. In addition, the survey has shown that individual alignments were constructed in different ways, and that there were probably at least four episodes of development before the last phase was overlain by a large Bronze Age round barrow. This burial monument, dating to about 1800 BC, was evidently deliberately sited on top of the boundary earthwork. This indicates that the embanked pit-alignments are probably of late Stone Age origin, dating to the late Neolithic period about 2,500 BC, or at the latest, early Bronze Age in date. The quality of earthwork preservation has allowed the identification of three main types of pit, and also substantial banks with differing characteristics running alongside the lines of pits. These banks - whose existence is seldom hinted at on aerial photographs - clearly contributed significantly to the effectiveness and appearance of the boundaries: they may prove to be of greater importance than the pits themselves.
The pit alignments lie on private farmland and there is no public access.
The full report on the field survey (ref.: AI/7/1999) is available to order on-line. For further details about our investigation, contact the Search Room of English Heritage's public archive, the National Monuments Record, on 01793 414700 or e-mail: customers@english-heritage.org.uk.
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