A BRONZE Age monument has been commemorated after a long-running campaign.

The 4,000-year-old Quernhow burial mound, which was obliterated by the upgrading of the A1(M), has been marked with a plaque and stone by the Quernhow Café, near Ainderby Quernhow, by the Highways Agency.

Archaeologists say the site was “of primary importance in prehistoric times” as it stood on the plain between the three great henges of Thornborough to the north and those on Hutton Moor to the south, accompanied by a number of other tumuli nearby.

When it was unearthed in the 1950s, archaeologists found an imposing flat-topped stone cairn with four small pits in its centre, a number of small cremations and broken remains of pottery, human bones and foods vessels.

Near the centre of the cairn, which was initially damaged by roadworks in the 1950s, was a "curious four poster” of upright stones placed near to its north, south, east and west points.

Former Quernhow Café owner Bryan Lye, said he was delighted to the agency, which completed its £318m Dishforth and Leeming motorway upgrade scheme earlier this year, had agreed to mark the site.

He said: “Quernhow will always have a special place in my heart, but more importantly I am delighted the rich local history now has public recognition and can be remembered for generations to come.”

Archeologist Blaise Vyner said the mound was important as few Bronze Age sites of this kind have been found in the Vale of York.

He said: “There are a large number on the North York Moors and in the Dales, but not here because the population was presumably a lot thinner.

“We know they were used between approximately 2200 BC and 1850 BC, but it’s difficult to say exactly when, how many people were buried, or whether these were only for people of a higher social standing.

"That’s what the food vessels that were found indicate, but it’s a fascinating area to explore.”

A Highways Agency spokesman said: “We share the passion of Bryan and Blaise to ensure local history isn’t forgotten, and we hope the commemorative stone triggers interest and makes café visitors think about who may have stood there before them 4,000 years earlier.”