Hot Air Balloon Pilot Discovers Several Bronze Age Barrows

Hot Air Balloon Pilot Discovers Several Bronze Age Barrows

The hot dry weather is revealing some of Oxfordshire’s Bronze Age history normally hidden from view.

Hot air balloon pilot Michael Wolf, of Reading Road, Wallingford, was training another pilot near North Stoke when they spotted several dark circles in a farmer’s field.

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County archaeologist Paul Smith said: “There are very extensive areas of Bronze Age barrow cemeteries in that area, and some Roman remains too. There is a whole mix of multi-period sites.

“There has not been a lot of excavation, but these sites periodically show up through crops.

“When it has been dry, the ditches once dug for round barrows hold more moisture than the surrounding area, and when the rest of the field is ripening, the crops above the ditch are considerably greener.

Finally, a crop circle one can actually believe.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer
Nice find BM. There's an unexcavated barrow a few miles from where I live. There's rumblings that it's on schedule to be explored in the next year. I'm planning to be a trowel monkey for the local archaeological society.

Finally, a crop circle one can actually believe.

Yeah and they're still manmade!