Street House Long Cairn

The Street House Long Barrow at Loftus lies on the Cleveland coastline between Saltburn and Staithes. This area was the final resting place for many Bronze Age individuals. They erected numerous burial mounds, many of which still survive.

The excavation of a Bronze Age mound at Street House was prompted by the threat of plough damage and the need to record the monument before it was destroyed. At this point of the project the excavators did not realise that they would be dealing with a complex sequence of deposits that would include a unique Neolithic mortuary structure.

The burial mound, as it stood, had a modern field boundary running through it. Unfortunately the ploughing on the south side of the hedge had completely destroyed the mound. However the north side had been protected by a build up of soil that had accumulated against the boundary.

Where the Bronze Age mound survived it consisted of a core of clay surrounded by water worn pebbles and delimited by a kerb of large stones that had been set upright. Several of the kerb stones had characteristic cup marks carved into their surfaces. These mysterious symbols are a common feature at Bronze Age ritual sites.

Street House Long Cairn.

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