Editing Todmorden (section)

===Prehistory===
In 1898, Blackheath Barrow—a [[ring cairn]] monument situated above Cross Stone in Todmorden<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure/localhistory/glimpse-past/archaeology/ancient-circle.html |title=Blackheath Barrow: Archaeology |publisher=Calderdale Council |access-date=20 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201173626/http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure/localhistory/glimpse-past/archaeology/ancient-circle.html |archive-date=1 February 2014 }}</ref>—was excavated and proved to be a site of "surpassing archaeological interest", according to J. Lawton Russell, one of the men who carried out the excavation.<ref>Russell's note of the excavations appears in H. Ling Wroth, The Yorkshire Coiners 1767–1783, and Notes on Old and Prehistoric Halifax</ref>  Various [[Bronze Age]] items were discovered, including [[Sepulchre|sepulchral]] urns, a human skull, teeth and hands.

Russell contended that Blackheath Barrow was primarily a religious site, specifically intended for the "performance of funeral rites", as there was no evidence that it had been settled for domestic use. Of particular interest were the four [[cairn]]s, positioned at the [[Cardinal direction|cardinal]] points of the compass, and it has been suggested that this indicates "a ritual evocation of the airts, or spirits of the four directions, with obvious correlates in relation to spirits in the land of the dead".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://megalithix.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/blackheath-circle/ |title=Blackheath Circle, Todmorden, West Yorkshire &#124; The Northern Antiquarian |publisher=Megalithix.wordpress.com |date=19 November 2010 |access-date=20 January 2014}}</ref>

The various finds from the 1898 dig are now housed in the Todmorden Library, on permanent display.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/branches/todmorden.html |title=Todmorden Library |publisher=Calderdale Council |access-date=20 January 2014}}</ref>