Monument record MDO2929 - Ring ditch north west of Bunker's Hill Plantation, West Stafford

Excavations in 1994 in advance of construction at a borehole site revealed a number of field boundaries and a possible droveway of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age date. Situated within one of these fields was a ring ditch interpreted as the remains of a barrow or other funerary monument.

<1> Graham, A and Newman, C, 1994, Valley of the South Winterbourne, near West Stafford, Dorset. Archaeological Excavations. Interim summary report and proposals for analysis. (Unpublished document). SDO12405.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1995, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1994, 128-129 (Serial). SDO94.

‘WEST STAFFORD, WEST STAFFORD BOREHOLE. Excavations in advance of construction of a drilling site took place on gently sloping ground close to the base of the south side of the South Winterborne valley (SY 719891). The site lies in sight of the prehistoric complex of Mount Pleasant, on the chalk ridge on the north side of the Winterborne valley, and in close proximity to Bronze and Iron Age sites on the ridge and in the dry valley to the south. The development of the prehistoric landscape around the eastern side of Dorchester has become increasingly well defined in the last decade but much of the work has been confined to the chalk ridges, and the prehistoric use or occupation of the potentially complementary areas of the valley bottom is less clear.
The removal of layers of hillwash, which covered the archaeological features, revealed an earlier topography and a number of episodes of activity in the prehistoric period. The earliest of these was situated on a low mound of periglacial gravel at the base of the valley and comprised three pits datable to the Early Neolithic. A cluster of smaller pits along the edge of the gravel represented activity in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age period, perhaps contemporary with the land divisions represented by a number of field ditches and a possible droveway aligned north-west to south-east.
A ring-ditch, probably marking the site of a barrow or other funerary monument, lay within one of these fields. Many of these features appear to have been extensively eroded. A later period of activity dates to the Late Iron Age or early Romano-British period and consisted of three trenches which may indicate processes connected with iron smelting on the site. A number of pits and the ditches of an enclosure in the north-west part of the site may be contemporary with this period of activity. All the features were sealed beneath colluvial deposits of the 1st millennium A.D.
The excavations revealed significant evidence of activity, perhaps related to settlement, close to the base of the valley in the Early Neolithic period. The Bronze Age sees the laying out of fields and trackways, perhaps in a more open environment, and these are elements of a wider landscape. The droveway suggests a crossing point of the river valley, indicating a link with contemporaneous activity to the east of Dorchester, and the evidence from the excavations must be considered against the background of the more extensively known Bronze Age landscape to the west.
Of some importance is the evidence for the latest phase of activity. Late Iron Age or Romano-British, particularly if analysis of the metalworking residues indicates the iron smelting was taking place on the site. Presumably a source of iron stone was being exploited and, though the activity may be shortlived, it is significant in being previously unknown in the area. Whether the enclosure in the north-west part of the site is evidence of a settlement is unclear but again, the evidence for the use of the area in the Iron Age must be considered in the light of other sites in the vicinity. The Late Iron Age cemetery and probable settlement at Whitcombe is no more than 1km to the south-west.’

Record last edited

Apr 8 2013 2:44PM