EDO5778 - Weymouth Relief Road, Southdown Ridge; excavations 2008-9

Excavations carried out in 2008-2009 as part of wider investigations by Oxford Archaeology in advance of construction of the Weymouth Relief Road, constructed 2008-2011 by Skanska Civil Engineering and Owen Williams to replace a 7km stretch of the A354 running from the Ridgeway to Manor Roundabout, Redlands. This excavation formed part of a mitigation based upon several phases of archaeological assessment. Topsoil was stripped under archaeological supervision using tracked excavators with toothless buckets. The spoil was removed under controlled conditions to other areas within the scheme. Mechanical excavation ceased at either undisturbed natural deposits or when archaeological features were identified. After stripping sites were cleaned and all features planned and excavated in accordance with established practice. All pits and graves were completely excavated. Other features were sampled to varying degrees, but a minimum of 20% of prehistoric and Roman features, and 10% of post-medieval features, including the terminals. There was routine sampling of undisturbed, securely-dated deposits for charred plant macrofossils, molluscs, animal and human bone.