View source for Tregiffian Burial Chamber

{{Short description|Archaeological site in Cornwall County, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{coord|50.064531|-5.591786|display=title}}
{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Tregiffian Burial Chamber
  |native_name = Hirvedh Treguhyon
  |alternate_name =
  |image = Tregiffian burial chamber - geograph.org.uk - 41048.jpg
  |alt = 
  |caption = Tregiffian Burial Chamber
  |map_type = Southwest Cornwall
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  |location = [[Cornwall]]
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  |coordinates = {{coord|50.064531|-5.591786|display=inline}}
  |type = [[Chambered tomb]]
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  |abandoned = 
  |epochs = [[Neolithic]] / [[Bronze Age]]
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  |ownership = [[English Heritage]]
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The '''Tregiffian Burial Chamber''' ({{langx|kw|Hirvedh Treguhyon}})<ref>[http://www.magakernow.org.uk/default.aspx?page=520 Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF)] : [http://www.magakernow.org.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=79ba408d-7c02-499e-8cd6-b18dd48de58d&version=-1 '''List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel''']. [[Cornish Language Partnership]].</ref> is a [[Neolithic]] or early [[Bronze Age]] [[chambered tomb]]. It is near [[Lamorna]] in west [[Cornwall]], [[United Kingdom]] ({{gbmapping|SW430244}}). It is a rare form of a passage grave, known as an ''[[Entrance grave]]''. It has an entrance passage, lined with stone slabs, which leads into a central chamber. This type of tomb is also found in the neighbouring [[Isles of Scilly]].

==Location==
Tregiffian is in southwest Cornwall in the District of [[Penwith]] south of [[Penzance]] between [[St Buryan]] and [[Lamorna]]. It lies close to [[The Merry Maidens]] stone circle. The site is managed by the [[Cornwall Heritage Trust]] on behalf of [[English Heritage]].<ref>[http://www.cornwallheritagetrust.org/page_sites.php Sites Managed and Cared for by Cornwall Heritage Trust for English Heritage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613195529/http://www.cornwallheritagetrust.org/page_sites.php |date=2012-06-13 }}</ref>

==Construction==
The large stone grave, half of which was covered by a road in 1846, was, unlike Cornish [[Dolmen|quoits]], for the most part covered with soil, with only the entrance exposed. From the edge of the site a passage, covered by four 3 m long stones, led to the 4-metre deep grave chamber. In front of the chamber, a cross-lying ornate stone, with [[Cup and ring mark|cup-and-ring markings]], formed a barrier. The original stone is in [[Truro]], in the [[Royal Cornwall Museum]], the local stone is a replica. Inside the tomb there was the chamber grave, which consisted of upright stones and a cover slab. Tregiffian probably formed a holy place with the Merry Maidens and other sites.

==Excavations==
[[File:Tregiffian1.jpg|thumb|right|Tregiffian Burial Chamber]]
In 1871 [[William Copeland Borlase]] carried out the first excavations on the grave. He first discovered the stone edge of the cover and found flints, bones and ashes.  During deeper excavations Borlase discovered pits with bone remains, which suggested cremation.<ref>William Copeland Borlase: ''Naenia Cornubiae'', Longmans 1872</ref> In 1932 Hencken noted for the first time that it was probably a variant of a Megalithic grave and placed this grave type temporally between the [[dolmen]] and the [[cist]] type.<ref>Hugh O'Neill Hencken: ''The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly'', Metheun 1932</ref> Newer research recognized  passage tombs as a variant of the dolmen type, notable particularly by the entrance to the interior.<ref>Glyn Edmund Daniel: ''The Megalith Builders of Western Europe'', Harmondsworth, Penguin 1963</ref> Urns were discovered in comprehensive excavations in the years 1968 and 1972, and the contents were dated to roughly 1900 BC. The occurrence of these two forms of burial is typical of an ''[[Entrance grave]]'' and suggests its use as a community grave for a long period of time.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{Commons category|Tregiffian Burial Chamber}}
*[https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tregiffian-burial-chamber/ Tregiffian page at English Heritage]

{{Cornwall|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:History of Cornwall]]
[[Category:Bronze Age sites in Cornwall]]
[[Category:English Heritage sites in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Cornwall]]