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Antiquities

Part of Penn Moor contour reave

Devon

This section of contour reave forms part of Penn Moor's ancient field system. Reaves are long stone walls built to mark land divisions and control livestock movement across the open moor, typically dating to the Bronze Age when Dartmoor was more densely settled and farmed. They follow the natural contours of the land, running downslope in a pattern that speaks to careful agricultural planning thousands of years ago.

Today the reave survives as a low stone line running across the moorland, often overgrown with vegetation. Walking the moor here, you can trace these Bronze Age boundaries and understand how communities organized their landscape. The reaves remain among Dartmoor's most direct links to its prehistoric inhabitants and their relationship with this high ground.

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Photo: Derek Harper (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

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