Monument record MDO18303 - New Cemetery, Poundbury; Bronze Age pits

Two groups of pits were found during the evaluation and subsequent excavation on the site of a proposed sports centre and cemetery excavated by Wessex Archaeology in 1997 and 2001. These formed two groups, one to the north and one to the south of the area. The northern group comprised three pits, two of which were small shallow scoops close to a field boundary. The third pit was a larger feature cut into the fills of a field boundary ditch and filled with burnt flint and charcoal, perhaps the remains of hearth or furnace waste. The southern group comprised two small shallow pits filled with charcoal-rich soil and contained some Middle-Late Bronze Age pottery. These pits are likely to be evidence for activities being carried out within the Bronze Age field system. The precise nature of this activity is uncertain on present evidence, but the burnt flint and charcoal deposit may indicate some settlement or industrial activity in the northern part of the area.

A number of pits were found during the 1997 evaluation and 2000 excavation by Wessex Archaeology on the site of the new cemetery at Poundbury, Dorchester (1) (2) (3). The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the reports (1) (2).

A sparse scatter of pits was found across the site. These could be divided into two separate groups, one to the north which consisted of three pits found in Trench 33 and excavation Area 2, and a southern group which consisted of two pits found in Trench 5.

In the northern group, there was one pit found in Trench 33 and two in excavation Area 2. Pit [3315] was oval in shape measuring 1.25m by 1.0m and 0.35m deep and lay adjacent to a Bronze Age field boundary ditch. It was filled with silty clay and no finds were recovered. Two pits were found adjacent to the terminals of two ditches forming one corner of a field enclosure. Pit [5395] was a small feature 0.6m in diameter and 0.18m deep found just north of the ditch intersection. It was filled with soil and the only finds were a single flint scraper. Pit [5411] was an elongated oval feature which was cut into the fills of a NE-SW field boundary ditch. It was about two metres long, 0.84m wide and 0.32m deep and contained a dump of burnt flint and charcoal, perhaps derived from a hearth or from industrial activity nearby. None of these features was securely dated, but may be associated with activity within the Bronze Age field system. The burnt flint filled feature may indicate a settlement or activity area close by.

To the south, the two pits in Trench 5 were two similar shallow pits, 0.7m in diameter and about 0.15m deep, which were filled with yellowish-brown charcoal-rich silt which contained some worked flint and some Bronze Age pottery, possibly of Middle-Late Bronze Age date. The function of these pits is uncertain, but they appear to indicate some contemporary activity within the Bronze Age field system in the near vicinity.

<1> Grove J and Smith R J C, 1997, Proposed Sports Centre and Cemetery, Poundbury, Dorchester: Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SDO9539.

<2> Seager-Smith, R, 2001, New Cemetery, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Excavation. (Unpublished document). SDO9522.

<3> Gardiner, J, 2003, Dorchester, New Cemetery and Sports Centre, Poundbury. Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 157-159 (Article in serial). SDO9523.

Record last edited

Oct 12 2006 5:41AM