Monument record MDO18434 - Poundbury Post-Roman grain drier 4

Post-Roman grain drier 4 was discovered at the northern end of Site E, during the 1966-79 excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester. Grain drier 4 It lay on the NW corner of an irregular terrace to the west of structure PR12. The terrace had a heavily trampled surface, presumed to be a threshing surface, in the eastern half. The drier consisted of a rectangular pit with a ledge around the sides and had significant deposits of carbonised grain (mainly oats and wheat, with some barley), ash and charcoal in the base at the northwestern end. Grain drier 4 (together with structures PR11 and PR12, and pit groups vi-vii) formed a small settlement in the northern end of the earlier post-Roman enclosure and probably dating to the 5th century AD.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1980 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The results of the excavation have been published as two Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monographs; one dedicated to the settlement archaeology (DNHAS Monograph 7), and the other to the cemeteries (DNHAS Monograph 11). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published reports (2)(3). Further refinement of the post Roman settlement sequence was published in 1996 as part of a collection of papers: Dark, K.R. (ed), ‘External Contacts and the Economy of Late Roman and Post-Roman Britain’ (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge)(4).

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1979 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published excavation report and archive (1)(2). Further refinement of the post-Roman settlement sequence has been undertaken by Christopher Sparey Green since the initial publication of the site and this has been taken into account in the following description (3).

Grain drier 4 lay in the NW corner of an irregular terrace (about 7.6m x 4.9m across) at the north end of site E, adjacent to structure PR12. In the eastern half of the terrace was a heavily trampled surface [E404], which has been interpreted as a threshing floor. Grain drier 4 lay on the northwestern side of the threshing floor and it is possible that they are contemporary. The drier comprised a subrectangular trench about 3.6m by 1.4m across. There was some evidence for a ledge around the northwest and southeast side. No stone structure was found in situ. There was a concentration of carbonised grain, charcoal and ash in the base of the northwestern end, which has been interpreted as the remains of debris in the base of the drying chamber. The grain comprised mainly oats and wheat with some barley and some chaff and weeds.

The drier appeared to be cut by pit group vi.

Grain drier 4 was assigned to phase VA in the original monograph publication (1). In a later reappraisal of the post-Roman settlements, this structure was assigned, along with PR11and PR12 and pit groups vi-vii, to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement, to the north of the main cemetery and possibly contemporary with the latest phase of burial (3).

<1> Sparey Green, C, 1987, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1982. Volume 1: The Settlements (Monograph). SDO9630.

<2> Sparey Green, C, 1966-1979, Poundbury, Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10096.

<3> Sparey Green, C J, 1996, Poundbury, Dorset: settlement and economy in the Late and post-Roman Dorchester (Article in monograph). SDO10040.

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:29PM