Oval Barrow

An oval barrow is the name given by archaeologists to a type of prehistoric burial tumulus of roughly oval shape.

In the British mid to late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, oval barrows may indicate a transition between earlier long barrows with multiple burials and the later, more individual round barrows.

Judging from those sited in or near the Thames Valley, there is much doubt as to how oval barrows are related to the burials found within them and funerary practices, because there can be a long gap of many years between an original burial and the construction of the barrow.