Site Event/Activity record EEM14672 - 2013: MS - Burnt mound, Spooners, Mires Project

A gradiometer survey was undertaken at Spooners in April 2013 after field walkover survey had identified some possible archaeological remains, thought to be the second burnt mound so far discovered on Exmoor. The earthwork morphology combined with the gradiometer data clearly indicates a burnt mound structure. The form of the interpreted data indicates a raised area of burnt deposits, possibly with two mounds and a trough, where water heating was occurring using burnt stones. The highly magnetic contrast of the monument can be accounted for by the process of placing hot stones in a water-filled trough which then rapidly cool and then these stones are redeposited creating a remnant magnetism. The presence of possible distinct features within the burnt mount adds a further dimension to the data and could act as a focus for future work. The burnt mound may be located on a significant Holocene sediment sequence. Whilst this requires further investigation, the provisional dating of the monument as Bronze Age burnt mound, indicates the possibility of a significant early Holocene deposits.