Five Marys

The Five Marys is a group of Bronze Age round barrows near the village of Chaldon Herring, in Dorset, England [1]. The barrows, on a west–east ridge overlooking Chaldon Herring to the south, are in an almost straight line [1]. In Taylor's Map of Dorset, of 1765, they are shown as "Five Meers" (boundary points) [1]. The largest barrow has height 3.3 metres (11 ft) [1]. All but one have been damaged by antiquarian excavation [1]. Two of the barrows were excavated before 1866 by the Duchess of Berry; she was staying in Lulworth Castle [1]. A deep chalk-cut grave was found in each barrow, each containing a male skeleton in a sitting position, with stag antlers overlying each shoulder [1]. One barrow also contained a female skeleton, with similarly placed stag antlers, and the other had a secondary cremation in an urn [1].