Monument record MDO37749 - Oval enclosure, Picket Farm, South Perrott

A prehistoric enclosure investigated by Channel 4's 'Time Team'. Attention was drawn to the site following the finding of a significant concentration of Roman coins by two metal detectorists, who reported them to the Finds Liaison Officer. Fieldwalking recovered small quantities of prehistoric, Roman and medieval pottery, and prehistoric worked flint, as well as large quantities of post-medieval pottery. A small-scale metal detector survey recovered a small number of Roman coins. Geophysical survey using a gradiometer identified a number of anomalies, including a roughly oval enclosure. Four trenches were excavated, with the two largest on the ovoid enclosure. This sample excavation suggested that the enclosure was probably late Neolithic and had remained a focus for ritual activity into the Early Bronze Age. The ditch appeared to have been dug segmentally, and it was thought possible that the material from the ditch had been mounded up to form a central bank, since the resistivity survey and excavation of a slot across the modern hedge bank suggested the presence of modern mound material. Few internal features of note were observed, and no sign that the monument had a funerary use. The site seems also to have been the focus of ritual activity in the Roman period, with coins found by metal detecting concentrated on the east side of the monument; three Roman coins recovered during excavation seemed to have been placed in shallow scoops, and were interpreted as possible voitive offerings. Two large irregular pits to the west of the ring ditch, possibly dug as quarry pits, may indicate that the mound was enhanced in the Roman period.

Chapman, H, 2003, Picket Farm, South Perrot, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16434.

<1> Cooke, N, 2005, Picket Farm, Picket Lane, South Perrott. Report on an Archaeological Fieldwalking Exercise and Evaluation, and an Assessment of the results. (Unpublished document). SDO12439.

Record last edited

Mar 24 2021 9:20AM