Monument record MDO6407 - Bronze Age cremation cemetery, Witchampton

A number of Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury urns were recovered from a builder's trench which may be associated with a barrow possibly to the north west of the site, an area that was redeveloped in the 1970s.

Observations and recording during development revealed a scatter of worked flint. One of the builder’s trenches disturbed four small pits containing Deverel-Rimbury urns, one clearly inverted. The archaeologists on site considered that the urns might be associated with a barrow, possibly in an area to the north-west which had been redeveloped in the 1970s. A sunken floor recorded in another trench could not be dated with confidence, but might have been associated with the Bronze Age activity. <1>

<1> Hall, T A, 1988, Witchampton - observations at site adjacent to Witchampton and Crichel Working Men's Club: Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO13370.

‘A watching brief was carried out during development … Following topsoil stripping (15-20 cm) a scatter of worked flint was observed in the centre of the site. … Trench A: The subsoil, which lay at a depth of about 60 cm (after stripping), had been cut into by four small pits of between 40-55 cm in width, to a depth varying between 25-45 cm. All the pits, which had been sectioned fairly cleanly by the building’s JCB, contained Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury urns. Samples were taken of the pottery and contents of three of the urns which were left in situ. The remains of the four was removed, being somewhat precariously perched on an inside corner of the trench. The urn in pit 3 could be seen to have been inverted.
Trench B revealed an area of burning associated with a large burnt sandstone block, possibly a hearth, in the south-east corner where the house platform was located. The northern part of the trench cut through what appeared to be a sunken floor, 3 m in length. The floor had been cut into the natural (which lay at 70-80 cm below the ground surface) to a depth of 30 cm. The fill contained a fair amount of charcoal and burnt daub flecks along with two sherds of medieval pottery. The builder’s trench was 2 m wide along this edge and no sign of the feature appeared in the opposite face of the trench making it impossible to determine whether the feature was rectangular or circular in plan.
… Discussion. There is no previous record of Bronze Age activity in the immediate vicinity. It would not be unreasonable to expect the urns to be associated with a barrow, possibly to the north-west, an area that was redeveloped in the seventies. The sunken floor could be associated with the Bronze Age activity, but the medieval pottery near its base might suggest that it was of a later date.’

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1989, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1988, 142-143 (Serial). SDO88.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 4:22PM