SDO12553 - Quarleston Farm, Winterborne Stickland, Dorset. Archaeological Excavation May-June 1995

Assessment report on the results of an archaeological excavation at Quarleston Farm, Winterboorne Stickland. The report includes proposals for post-excavation analysis and publication. @The site (centred on ST 835039) is located on the south side of the village of Winterborne Stickland, and overlooks the river Winterbourne at a height of c. 90m OD. The site lies in an area which is rich in archaeological remains of a prehistoric date. More importantly, the site is situated in close proximity to a series of earthworks representing the remains of the deserted medieval settlement of Winterborne Quarleston. The preliminary assessment of the excavation results indicates multi-period activity on the site dating from the late prehistoric period to the present day. The earliest excavated deposits are broadly dated to the late Neolithic/Bronze Age (c. 3000-1500BC) and include a number of small pits, postholes and a large ring ditch. The last is of especial interest. During the evaluation phase of the project a small volume of cremated human bone, tentatively interpreted as representing pyre debris was excavated, and the association of this material with the ring ditch suggest that the latter may represent the ploughed out remains of a Bronze Age Barrow. Very little artefactual evidence was recovered from deposits of this phase. A few flint artefacts broadly datable from the Mesolithic period through to the Early bronze Age were recovered. Although the survival of ecofactual remains in these deposits was fairly good, the research potential of this ecofactual data is limited by the poor dating resolution afforded by the small artefactual evidence recovered from deposits of this phase. A range of deposits including large pits and ditches, as well as structural, features such as postholes and beam slots, were also excavated and are dateable to the medieval period. Preliminary assessment of the artefactual evidence suggests two phases of medieval activity, the first dated to the 10th-11th century, followed by a second phase dateable to the late 12th-13th century. While the latter are broadly contemporary with the recorded settlement remains and documentary evidence of the medieval settlement of Winterborne Quarleston, the former may provide important evidence regarding the origin and early development of the settlement. A small but important assemblage of artefactual material was recovered form these deposits. Assemblages of 12th-11th century pottery are not common in Dorset, especially from rural sites, and any such assemblage represents an important addition to the ceramic record for early medieval Dorset. A significant ecofactual assemblage was also recovered from deposits of this phase. This assemblage was rich in charred cereal remains, as well as chaff. The composition of the assemblage suggests that crop processing and storage were carried out at the site. This material thus has the potential to provide important data regarding the agricultural regime upon which the settlement depended. A variety of artefacts were recovered from the excavation from all periods which will assist in dating and characterising the activity on site. The site is of particular importance both locally and regionally as it has provided the first opportunity to excavate a large area in a part of Dorset about which little is yet known. The purpose of this assessment is to outline the requirements to achieve early publication of the excavations results, setting them in a local and regional context, as an article in an appropriate publication such as Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. The assessment report is divided into three sections, A, B and C. Part A outlines the results of the excavations. Part B sets out a proposed methodology for achieving a synthetic report in Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, and Part C indicates the programme of post-excavation analysis, which would take approximately five months to complete.'