Where are the missing long barrows of eastern England? Do they exist as the original earthwork form of cropmark long enclosures? Or do these represent a distinct tradition? To explore this, geophysical surveys were carried out on the region’s rare surviving long barrows. Comparable signals suggest that most long enclosures are indeed likely to have been long barrows. Other morphological factors, however, differ from long barrows elsewhere and, coupled with evidence from excavation, suggest different origins and histories. Ditches may have been markedly secondary rather than primary features, for example, and other elements hint at Continental connections. However it originated, the form appears to have subsequently emerged as a symbol in its own right and been expanded to cursus dimensions.
