EDO5422 - 17 Ropers Lane, Wareham; excavation 1970

R Baker conducted a small excavation in the garden of 17 Ropers Lane in an attempt to add to information gathered some 60ft to the south. The only archaeological feature noted was a ditch running north-south cut into the sandstone. The base of the ditch was some 8ft below the modern surface, and its filling contained sherds of Iron Age pottery. The extent to which deposits above the ditch were stratified is not clear from the report. However, a thin layer of ash is reported at a depth of approximately six feet below the modern surface. Layers above the ash layer contained quantities of Romano-British pottery from the 3rd and 4th centuries, and a coin of Constantine I. Deposits below the ash layer contained pottery from the 1st century and 'a mixture of small flints and ash'. Immediately below the ash layer was part of a Kimmeridge shale tray and the top stone of a rotary quern. An extension of the trench in a southerly direction found a continuation of the ash layer. Below it was a layer with more pottery lying on a floor of stone slabs and shale, described as being 'for the most part roughly worked bearing hollow depressions and holes'. The floor area covered at least 15 sq ft was lifted, revealing Iron Age pottery. Below this was a continuation of the ditch. [1]