A Bronze Age monument has been commemorated in Britain after a long-running campaign. The 4,000-year-old Quernhow burial mound, which was obliterated by the upgrading of the A1(M) motorway, has been marked with a plaque and stone by the Quernhow Café, near Ainderby Quernhow, by the British Highways Agency. Archaeologists say the site was "of primary importance in prehistoric times" as it stood on the plain between the three great henges of Thornborough to the north and those on Hutton Moor to the south, accompanied by a number of other tumuli nearby.
     When it was unearthed in the 1950s, archaeologists found an imposing flat-topped stone cairn with four small pits in its centre, a number of small cremations and broken remains of pottery, human bones and foods vessels. Near the centre of the cairn, which was initially damaged by roadworks in the 1950s, was a 'curious four poster' of upright stones placed near to its north, south, east and west points.
     Archeologist Blaise Vyner said the mound was important as few Bronze Age sites of this kind have been found in the Vale of York. He said: "There are a large number on the North York Moors and in the Dales, but not here because the population was presumably a lot thinner. We know they were used between approximately 2200 BCE and 1850 BCE, but it's difficult to say exactly when, how many people were buried, or whether these were only for people of a higher social standing. That's what the food vessels that were found indicate, but it's a fascinating area to explore."

Edited from The Northern Echo (21 November 2012)