EDO6157 - Land off Augusta Road, Portland; evaluation 2006

Evaluation of a proposed development site comprising the excavation of five trenches. Two shallow parallel gullies were recorded in the northern part of the site (Trench 1) and thought to be of fairly recent date. An Iron Age pit was recorded at the western edge of the site (Trench 2). It was a large, circular pit about 1.8m across and over 1.2m deep with vertical sides. The filling comprised a loose deposit of limestone rubble in dark greyish-brown clayey brown loam, over a layer of compact greyish-brown clayey silt (204) with occasional limestone pieces, over 0.2m thick. Sherds from the base of a single Iron Age pottery vessel were recovered from the lower filling, with a sheep tooth and a flake of Portland Chert. This feature may mark the eastern edge of an area of Iron Age activity recorded to the west.