| Five Marys | |
| Map Type: | Dorset |
| Coordinates: | 50.6571°N -2.2981°W |
| Gbgridref: | SY 790 842 |
| Type: | Round barrows |
| Excavations: | 19th century |
| Designation1: | Scheduled monument |
| Designation1 Number: | 1013344 |
| Designation1 Date: | 27 February 1957 |
The Five Marys is a group of Bronze Age round barrows near the village of Chaldon Herring, in Dorset, England. The site is a scheduled monument.
The barrows, on a west–east ridge overlooking Chaldon Herring to the south, are in an almost straight line. In Taylor's Map of Dorset, of 1765, they are shown as "Five Meers" (boundary points).[1] There are two bowl barrows, and four or seven bell barrows, according to different surveys. A pond barrow has been discerned but was not visible on other inspections. The largest barrow has height . All but one have been damaged by antiquarian excavation.[1] [2]
Two of the barrows were excavated before 1866 by the Duchess of Berry; she was staying in Lulworth Castle, in exile after the dethronement of Charles X of France in 1830.
The two barrows excavated are thought to be the first and third large barrows from the west end. 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. One barrow also contained a female skeleton, with similarly placed stag antlers, and the other had a secondary cremation in an urn.[1]