EDO6141 - Land west of Reap Lane, Southwell, Portland; evaluation 2013

Machine and hand excavation of six trial trenches. Five trenches 20m by 1.5m were positioned to provide a representative spread across the site, and comprised an approximately 2% sample. A sixth trench 6m long was dug to investigate further the one archaeological feature revealed, this being the foundations of a mortarted limestone wall crossing Trench 1. Finds suggested a Romano-British date for this feature, and it was interpreted as a relatively modest building. A mixed limestone brash and clay subsoil that covered the wall and extended across Trench 6 suggested a zone of activity near the eastern edge of the site. An undulating subsoil, seen particularly clearly in Trench 4 and 5, was thought to represent ridge and furrow cultivation.