 The Folkton Drums - now in the British Museum |
| There
is nothing left to be seen of the Folkton barrow
today – it was less than a metre high when Canon Greenwell excavated it in
the 1880’s but the site is worth a visit for two reasons. First is for the
position of the barrow, as you follow the public right of way from the roadside
eastwards, the landscape opens out in front of you as a huge natural crossroads
between the hills. The barrow would have overlooked what could have been an important
junction of 2 trading routes and I would speculate that there could have been
some kind of stone marker at the bottom of the valley, although there is no record
of one ever standing here. The second reason are the finds from the barrow itself. Buried with the body of a child these finds consisted of 3 small chalk drums measuring 11.8cm, 10.5cm and 8.6cm tall with diameters of 14.6cm, 12.7cm and 10.2cm respectively. They are decorated with incised lines and chevrons as well as shapes that could be interpreted as human faces. These apparent markings of eyes, eyebrows and noses have lead some to think that they may be idol figures of some kind, others believe they could be copies of incense cups. Although the tops of the drums appear to form lids, they are in fact solid. Glossary Item: Bronze Age |
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