In 1889, three carved cylinders of chalk were discovered in a child’s grave in Folkton, north Yorkshire known as the Folkton Chalk Drums. All of them have geometric decoration and what appear to be eyes, noses and eyebrows.
They range in size from 146mm in diameter through 124 mm diameter down to the smallest at 104mm in diameter.
Mystery has surrounded these three enigmatic stone cylinders since they were excavated in the late 19th Century by Greenwell from a barrow associated with a child’s burial but with no datable grave goods, in Folkton, near Filey in East Yorkshire.
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| The Folkton Chalk Drums. (Image credit: Wikipedia) |
The motifs on the drums are part of an aesthetic tradition also found on the Neolithic stone balls.
Examination by a team of experts by using light and electron microscopic examination has revealed microfossils typical of the late Cretaceous (e.g. coccoliths), confirming that the chalk is the material of the drums. The drums therefore were clearly manufactured from a local supply. The problem of their precise cultural significance, however, remains unresolved.
Some researchers have connected their circumferences with a standardised measure of length known as the “long foot”. Some think they were references in stone to perishable containers such as lidded wooden jars or baskets. Others have tried to link the geometric markings to astronomical observations. But their presence in the graves of carefully buried children seems to suggest a more sensitive explanation.
A fourth, undecorated drum known as the Lavant Chalk Drum, was found at Lavant in west Sussex in 1993. It is a cylindrical shaped object made out of chalk, with a defined rim carved into the top.
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| The Lavant Chalk Drum. (Image credit: The Novium Museum) |
It is believed to date from the Neolithic period (New Stone Age, 4000 - 2500 BC).
Another, highly ornate, example was excavated at Burton Agnes in east Yorkshire in 2015. The Burton Agnes Drum was buried with a chalk ball, a bone pin and the remains of three children – one of whom was dated to 3005-2890 BC.
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| The Burton Agnes Drum. (Image credit: The History Blog) |
The drum-shaped cylinder of solid chalk decorated with elaborate geometric designs was discovered during an excavation at a site slated for development of a renewable energy plant. A geophysical survey revealed two barrows, one circular, one square. When the circular barrow was fully excavated, archaeologists found an intact central burial containing the skeletal remains of three children. The two smallest children were holding each other while the eldest’s arm was around the little ones. The Burton Agnes chalk drum was placed against the head of the eldest of the three.
Radiocarbon dating of the human remains established that the children died between 3005-2890 B.C. This was the same time Stonehenge was being built. Also found in the grave was a polished bone pin and a chalk ball, artifacts that have been found in excavations of Stonehenge as well.
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