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TV5998
Bowl Barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow and there are a number of examples of them in TV5998. Bowl barrows are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the late Bronze Age. Most examples date from 2400-1500 BC. Typically, they were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds which sometimes have a ditch and they may have been intended for the burial of either single or multiple occupants. Round barrows may sometimes occur in isolation or they may be grouped to form a cemetery. Although their appearance resembles an upturned bowl, they vary greatly in size. They often occupy a prominent position such as on a hilltop and though we may never know what was in the minds of their builders, this could be interpreted as one of the main locating factors. There are over 1,000 surviving bowl barrows though many more have been destroyed. Given that barrows give insights relating to beliefs, social practices, funeral customs and help to identify the locations of prehistoric communities, they are worthy of protection.
At a glance, it can be understood that the area where the barrows are situated was a place known to the early inhabitants of the Eastbourne area. Unlike the modern inhabitants, who live mainly on the flat land which would probably been marshy in those far off times, the ancient people preferred the high ground. It may be surmised that the high ground gave them locating advantages such as look out points and a wide field of vision, a good defensive site and access to flint for fire, weapons and tools. It can be understood, that for the people who built the barrows and who lived in this area, the barrows were not only part of a physical landscape that they created but they were also an important part of their ceremonial and spiritual landscape.
In the absence of a written or oral history, the barrows provide an entry point into an understanding of their creators. A contemporary issue relates to questions about the importance of ancestry, DNA connection and identity. To what extent do people, particularly living in the region, identify with those people who lived here in bygone times?
One individual barrow in Paradise Woods, located within TV5998, measures approximately 14 metres in diameter by 1.2 metres in height. Although the slopes of the South Downs would probably been more wooded when the barrow was built, the site now gives panoramic views over the land that is now Eastbourne. Close to this barrow, there are a cluster of other barrows which collectively form a cemetery. Their presence raises a number of practical questions like how they are to be best protected, whether they should be signposted and their media profile raised or whether, for their own safety and protection, they are best left in a natural and unheralded state?
Adrian L Diack MA (Hons)

TV5998 : Prehistoric Bowl Barrow in Paradise Wood, EastbourneTV5998 : Profile of Bowl Barrow on the slopes of the South DownsTV5998 : Bowl Barrow in Paradise Plantation overlooking EastbourneTV5998 : Bowl Barrow in a graveyard of Bowl BarrowsTV5998 : Bowl Barrow in a prehistoric, graveyard area of Paradise Plantation