Monument record MWX3644 - Bestwall Quarry Archaeological Project, Field R, Bronze Age settlement

Early Bronze Age: Two small sherds of Beaker pottery found in a Roman ditch and a single sherd of biconical urn was retrieved from a scoop
Middle Bronze Age: 62 features comprising pits (and charcoal pits see WX3516), scoops, postholes, and one ditch/gully. Two 'special' deposits and five single 'pot' deposits of note and two areas of intense activity observed. One area 13m x 13m included: a shallow sub-circular gully with finds, concentrated to the centre of the ring, suggesting an industrial function; a ring of postholes with a 7m diameter, probably representing a roundhouse, two postholes were capped with a 0.1m layer of raw white clay; an oval pit with pottery from at least three vessels. The other area was 10m x 13m and included: a ring of postholes with an internal pit and three internal postholes that may have been part of an internal dividing structure; a storage pit with raw and fired clay from pottery manufacture and pottery, worked flint, burnt flint, burnt hearthstone, limestone, shale and a few fragments of bone. There was an absence of features in the south and east of the whole excavated area.
Late Bronze Age: A cluster of features consisting of pits, scoops and postholes presented no discernible pattern One pit had been lined with large pieces of hearthstone. The fill was rich in charcoal and ash and there was evidence of in situ burning. Pottery fragments, raw and fired clay, charcoal, burnt hearthstone and burnt flint found in many features suggesting industrial activity. A single urned cremation was also found. The charcoal rich pot fill contained human bone, possibly from more than one body (1)

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 2000, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1999, 153 (Serial). SDO11604.

<1> Ladle, L, 2000, Bestwall Quarry Archaeological Project, Phase 8 - 1999 (Unpublished document). SWX8530.

Record last edited

Apr 3 2021 3:04PM