Monument record MDO18422 - Poundbury Middle Bronze Age Enclosure System

The remains of a Middle Bronze Age linear boundary system was discovered during excavations on the eastern side of Poundbury in the 1960s and 1970s. This comprised two major parallel NW-SE ditches running up and down the slope, with some slight evidence for subdivisions. At the eastern end of the excavation, these ditches formed part of an enclosure around the a Middle Bronze Age settlement. Some evidence for a ditched trackway was found to the south of the settlement, which may have been part of this enclosure system.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1980 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report (1). The Middle Bronze Age enclosure system comprises two parallel ditches, set about 25m apart, running roughly NW-SE,up and down the slope. The southern ditch was traced intermittently for a distance of over 150m. A faint parchmark in the eastern end of the interior of Poundbury hillfort is on the same line as this ditch and is probably a continuation of this boundary. To the east (on excavation site C), the southern ditch formed part of an enclosure around a Middle Bronze Age settlement, with evidence for three successive phases of ditch in this location. A ditch was also found curving round the eastern side of the settlement. This probably joined the northern ditch, beyond the excavated area. A shallow transverse lynchet running parallel to the contours and perpendicular to the linear ditches was found to the west. This formed a terrace 1.8m wide and 7.1m long, the surface of which was covered by a deposit containing flint flakes and a single sherd of pottery. This could suggest there were originally a series of subdivisions within the major linear boundary ditches, forming smaller fields or enclosures. Most of the dating evidence for this ditch system comes from the area adjacent to the settlement on Site C. The primary ditch [C139] was a U-profiled ditch about 0.45m deep and 0.6m wide, containing some unabraded pottery of Middle Bronze Age type. The final phase of ditch [C136] was 1.0m deep and 1.8m wide with a V-profile and contained a sequence of deposits. Following the primary silting, the molluscan fauna and other finds suggested a period of abandonment, radiocarbon dated to 1080 +/- 90 uncalibrated BC. The subsequent deposits contained a fauna representing open, disturbed conditions and the upper fill was sealed by a layer containing small flints and comminuted occupation material suggesting the levelling of the settlement site for cultivation, although the molluscan fauna suggests a subsequent pastoral phase. To the south of the Middle Bronze Age Settlement in the southern end of Site C three shallow parallel V-shaped ditches were found which have been interpreted as successive phases of boundary ditches which flanked a track-way approaching the settlement.

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:27PM