EDO5638 - Shapwick Road, Hamworthy,Poole; evaluation 2003

Terrain Archaeology carried out a further stage of archaeological evaluation of land to the south of Shapwick Road, Hamworthy in 2003. The evaluation consisted of two trenches, Trench 12, placed within the postulated area of the Roman supply base, and Trench 13 just outside to the south. Trench 12, was aligned NNE-SSW, measured 24.5m by 2m wide and reached a depth of 1.5m. The second, Trench 13, was aligned NE-SW, measured 20m by 6.5m and reached a depth of 1.4m the overburden was cleared off by a mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless grading bucket until archaeological deposits or natural soil was encountered. Trench 12 contained a curvilinear feature about 0.45m wide and o.4m deep with a flat base and concave sides. This contained a number of sherds of Late Iron Age Pottery, briquetage and burnt clay. The trench also contained two pits one of these was about 1.7m in diameter though very few finds were recovered from it. The second pit, or possibly a ditch terminal, contained a relatively higher number of finds, including saucepan pot sherds from the Middle to Late Iron Age. Trench 13, was excavated within the interior of thesupply base and revealed a dense sequence of archaeological features dating from the Mesolithic to the later Roman period. There were two, or possibly three, small features containing a sparse scatter of Mesolithic flint. This is the first stratified evidence for earlier prehistoric occupation of the Hamworthy peninsula.