EDO1314 - Blandford By-pass, Blandford Forum; watching brief

Martin Green conducted an archaeological watching brief during groundworks for the construction of the Blandford Bypass in 1985. Notably a continuous layer of burnt soil and flint was observed in a cutting in the east side of the road. The layer was up to 20cm thick and extended for 15m. No dating evidence was recovered, although a sample was submitted for sieving. The layer comprised predominately well burnt flint together with some very fine black silt and large quantities of charcoal. Similar deposits to this have been observed in Cranborne Chase and other areas were they date from the Late Bronze Age. They are thought to have been formed during the 'trough' cooking of meat.