Julliberrie's Grave
Encyclopedia
Julliberrie's Grave is an unchambered earthen Neolithic
long barrow
in the English
county of Kent
. It is situated near Chilham
overlooking the River Stour
on the Julliberrie Downs at Ordnance Survey
, . The Stour Valley Walk
passes close to the site.
It is 44 metres (144.4 ft) in length, 2 metres (6.6 ft) high and measures 15 metres (49.2 ft) at its widest although it was originally longer. Eighteenth century chalk extraction has destroyed the northern end. This lost part is likely to have been where burials would have been placed although the mound may not have contained any inhumations at all. The north north east - south south west oriented earthwork has produced some evidence of Neolithic
activity at the site but considerably more later evidence.
It is one of a number of prehistoric barrows overlooking the Stour valley including recently-identified long barrows at Elmsted
and Boughton Aluph
and the Jacket's Field long barrow in the Wye Forest
along with a number of later round barrow
s. The Julliberrie name is likely to derive from antiquarian speculation although the folk etymology
is that it is the burial site of a giant named Julaber. A popular early explanation was that it was the grave of a Roman tribune
, Quintus Laberius Durus
, mentioned in Julius Caesar
's Gallic Wars
as being slain by the Britons and Jul Laber therefore being a corruption of '[the grave of] Julius' [tribune], Laberius'.
s in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including an excavation by Heneage Finch
, later the 5th Earl of Winchelsea in 1702. Finch dug a shaft through the middle of the mound and then expanded it into a trench along the barrow's length in what was one of the earliest organised 'barrow openings' ever undertaken. He found a few bones he thought were from animals and described a core of dark earth within the barrow covered by a chalk cap.
Finch's friend, William Stukeley
visited the site several times during the 1720s and made drawings that recorded the damage caused by the neighbouring chalk pit. The Wildman family who owned the land also conducted their own excavation around this time whilst a Roman coin hoard
was found at the site during fence digging in the nineteenth century.
One nineteenth century antiquarian suggested that the lack of human remains encountered by Finch meant that the barrow was in fact a defensive earthwork whilst other theories included ideas that it was a place for Roman games or the remains of a turf maze
. By the early twentieth century, its status as a long barrow was increasingly uncertain
burials, one cremated, that had presumably been placed at what was still considered a significant site several thousand years after its construction. Further finds of Roman coins and Roman and Iron Age
pottery indeed suggest an interest in the site during the period. Two coarse Neolithic pottery fragments were found in the base of the ditch providing evidence of the initial construction. No evidence of a kerb
, chambers or other stonework was found.
At the core of the barrow, Jessup found a Neolithic polished axe
, similar to examples from Scandinavia
, Germany
and the Netherlands
and it is likely to have been an exotic import. Bones of oxen
and sheep
lay within the earth centre. What the excavators interpreted as a ritual pit was also found to the northwest of the western side of the long barrow, containing flint tools.
Jessup also identified areas of burning as well as oyster
shell, Roman coins, glass and Samian ware on the south east side of the barrow. Roman activity at prehistoric sites is not unattested but such a degree of apparently ritual funerary behaviour is unusual.
thought that Julliberrie's Grave showed signs of being influenced by Germanic types whilst Stuart Piggott preferred a kinship with the Wessex
barrows. Jessup himself saw parallels with Dorset
tombs. Later assessments have incorporated the move away from the role of the long barrow as a funerary monument and focused on its position in the landscape.
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
long barrow
Long barrow
A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal tumuli or earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. It is situated near Chilham
Chilham
Chilham is a parish in the English county of Kent. Visited by tourists worldwide, it is known for its beauty. Chilham has been a location for a number of films and television dramas...
overlooking the River Stour
River Stour, Kent
The River Stour is the river in Kent, England that flows into the English Channel at Pegwell Bay. Above Plucks Gutter, where the Little Stour joins it, the river is normally known as the Great Stour. The upper section of the river, above its confluence with the East Stour at Ashford is sometimes...
on the Julliberrie Downs at Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
, . The Stour Valley Walk
Stour Valley Walk
The Stour Valley Walk is a recreational walking route that follows the River Stour, through the Low Weald and Kent Downs, from its source at Lenham to its estuary at Pegwell Bay....
passes close to the site.
It is 44 metres (144.4 ft) in length, 2 metres (6.6 ft) high and measures 15 metres (49.2 ft) at its widest although it was originally longer. Eighteenth century chalk extraction has destroyed the northern end. This lost part is likely to have been where burials would have been placed although the mound may not have contained any inhumations at all. The north north east - south south west oriented earthwork has produced some evidence of Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
activity at the site but considerably more later evidence.
It is one of a number of prehistoric barrows overlooking the Stour valley including recently-identified long barrows at Elmsted
Elmsted
Elmsted is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District of Kent, England. It is located west of Stone Street , the Roman road which today takes traffic between Canterbury and Lympne. Within the parish are the settlements of Bodsham, North Leigh and Evington...
and Boughton Aluph
Boughton Aluph
Boughton Aluph is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford in Kent, England, and is about 5 miles north of Ashford on the A2251 road. There are two villages within the parish: Boughton Aluph itself, and Boughton Lees...
and the Jacket's Field long barrow in the Wye Forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
along with a number of later round barrow
Round barrow
Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....
s. The Julliberrie name is likely to derive from antiquarian speculation although the folk etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
is that it is the burial site of a giant named Julaber. A popular early explanation was that it was the grave of a Roman tribune
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
, Quintus Laberius Durus
Quintus Laberius Durus
Quintus Laberius Durus was a Roman tribune who died during Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain. Caesar describes how soon after landing in Kent, the Romans were attacked whilst building a camp by the native Britons. Before re-inforcements could arrive, Laberius was killed...
, mentioned in Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's Gallic Wars
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
as being slain by the Britons and Jul Laber therefore being a corruption of '[the grave of] Julius' [tribune], Laberius'.
Early investigations
It was investigated by antiquarianAntiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
s in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including an excavation by Heneage Finch
Heneage Finch
Heneage Finch may refer to:*Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford , English statesman and lawyer*Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesford , British peer and member of the House of Lords...
, later the 5th Earl of Winchelsea in 1702. Finch dug a shaft through the middle of the mound and then expanded it into a trench along the barrow's length in what was one of the earliest organised 'barrow openings' ever undertaken. He found a few bones he thought were from animals and described a core of dark earth within the barrow covered by a chalk cap.
Finch's friend, William Stukeley
William Stukeley
William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
visited the site several times during the 1720s and made drawings that recorded the damage caused by the neighbouring chalk pit. The Wildman family who owned the land also conducted their own excavation around this time whilst a Roman coin hoard
Hoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...
was found at the site during fence digging in the nineteenth century.
One nineteenth century antiquarian suggested that the lack of human remains encountered by Finch meant that the barrow was in fact a defensive earthwork whilst other theories included ideas that it was a place for Roman games or the remains of a turf maze
Turf maze
Historically, a turf maze is a labyrinth made by cutting a convoluted path into a level area of short grass, turf or lawn. Some had names such as Mizmaze, Troy Town, The Walls of Troy, Julian's Bower, or Shepherd's Race...
. By the early twentieth century, its status as a long barrow was increasingly uncertain
Jessup's excavation
Julliberrie's Grave was partially excavated between 1936 and 1937 by Ronald Jessup. This work showed that it was a long barrow after all. Jessup found a silted-up ditch surrounding the southern, eastern and western sides of the barrow. Chalk excavated from the ditch had been used to cover the earth core of the barrow. The ditch fill contained prehistoric struck flints and also four early Romano-BritishRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
burials, one cremated, that had presumably been placed at what was still considered a significant site several thousand years after its construction. Further finds of Roman coins and Roman and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
pottery indeed suggest an interest in the site during the period. Two coarse Neolithic pottery fragments were found in the base of the ditch providing evidence of the initial construction. No evidence of a kerb
Megalithic architectural elements
This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic structures.-Forecourt:In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb...
, chambers or other stonework was found.
At the core of the barrow, Jessup found a Neolithic polished axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
, similar to examples from Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and it is likely to have been an exotic import. Bones of oxen
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
lay within the earth centre. What the excavators interpreted as a ritual pit was also found to the northwest of the western side of the long barrow, containing flint tools.
Jessup also identified areas of burning as well as oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
shell, Roman coins, glass and Samian ware on the south east side of the barrow. Roman activity at prehistoric sites is not unattested but such a degree of apparently ritual funerary behaviour is unusual.
Later assessment
Vere Gordon ChildeVere Gordon Childe
Vere Gordon Childe , better known as V. Gordon Childe, was an Australian archaeologist and philologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. A vocal socialist, Childe accepted the socio-economic theory of Marxism and was an early proponent of Marxist archaeology...
thought that Julliberrie's Grave showed signs of being influenced by Germanic types whilst Stuart Piggott preferred a kinship with the Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
barrows. Jessup himself saw parallels with Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
tombs. Later assessments have incorporated the move away from the role of the long barrow as a funerary monument and focused on its position in the landscape.