Monument record MDO18713 - A37 Western Link; Late Iron Age/ Early Roman Ditch 231

Evidence for a Late Iron Age/ Early Roman ditch was discovered during excavations along the route of the Dorchester By-pass, Western Link. Ditch [231] comprised a substantial V-profiled ditch on the lower terrace at the western end of Trench F. There was no evidence for the ditch cont inuing into Trench G/H; suggesting that it terminated or turned through a right angle to the west between the trenches. It was filled with colluvial clays, which contained 19 sherds of BBW, including one of 1st century form. A pit cut in the top of the ditch contained a complete 1st century BBW bowl. The ditch was too small to be a settlement enclosure ditch, but may have enclosed a single stucture or plot evidence for which has since been destroyed.

Found during a programme of archaeological work conducted by Wessex Archaeology along the route of the Dorchester By-pass, Western Link, Fordington Bottom, Dorchester between 1986 and 1988. The results of the excavations have been published as a Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph; (DNHAS Monograph 11). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report (1). Ditch [231] comprised a substantial V-profiled ditch on the lower terrace at the western end of Trench F. It was aligned approximately N-S, with a 90 degree return to the west at its southern end. There was no evidence for the ditch continuing north into Trench G/H; suggesting that it terminated or turned through a right angle to the west between the trenches. It was filled with colluvial clays, which contained 19 sherds of BBW, including one of 1st century form. Mollusca from the fills suggest that the ditch was often overgrown with vegetation. A small pit [256], cut in the top of the ditch, contained a complete 1st century BBW bowl. The ditch was too small to be a settlement enclosure ditch, but may have enclosed a single stucture or plot, evidence for which was destroyed by later activity.

Record last edited

Jan 26 2007 5:02AM