EDO6165 - Downs Quarry, Worth Matravers; evaluation 2007

Evaluation of an area proposed for a quarry extension, comprising machine excavation of six trenches located to sample most of the area and provide a 2% sample. Evidence from trenches in the southern field showed it to be completely disturbed by quarrying, though Iron Age and Roman material was evident in the topsoil. Trenches in the northern field (Trenches 4-6) showed it to be partly disturbed by quarrying but some archaeology survived in the northern part of the site (Trench 1) where the remains of two drystone walls and spreads of stone rubble, including burnt stone and abraded sherds of Late Iron Age pottery were exposed. These features were not well dated, the excavators felt that they may have been associated with the Iron Age/Roman site of Gallows Gore West at the top of the hill to the south, with the walls perhaps being field walls or part of an enclosure.