Monument record MDO18488 - Poundbury Post-Roman grain drier 5

Post-Roman grain drier 5 was discovered on site G, to the east of the area of the Late Roman cemetery, during the 1966-79 excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester. It was a two-phase structure comprising two intercutting sub-rectangular pits containing some ash, charcoal and charred grain (wheat, barley and oats, with a high proportion of weeds). Post-Roman grain drier 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1979 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 excavation report and archive (1)(2). Further refinement of the post-Roman settlement sequence has been undertaken by Christopher Sparey Green since the initial publication of the site and this has been taken into account in the following description (3) (4). Grain drier 5 lay on Site G, to the east of the main late Roman cemetery site and to the east of the other post-Roman features. This grain drier appears to be of two phases, both comprising subrectangular pits containing quantities of burnt material and ash. The later drier cut the earlier one. Neither was fully exposed in the excavation area. The carbonised material was poorly preserved with a high degree of fragmentation, but wheat, barley and oats were present and there was a high proportion of weed seeds. This grain drier had been inserted through demolition rubble and its fill, as normal in post-Roman levels, contained only residual Roman pottery and rubble. This drier was not phased in the original monograph report (1). In a later reappraisal of the post-Roman settlements, this feature was assigned to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site (3).

Record last edited

Apr 4 2007 4:29AM