Monument record MDO18717 - A37 Western Link; Late Iron Age/ Early Roman Terrace 599

Evidence for a Late Iron Age/ Early Roman Terrace was discovered during excavations along the route of the Dorchester By-pass, Western Link. The northern edge of a terrace [599] was cut into the coombe side in the NE corner of Trench H. It was 11m long and 0.45m deep. It was presumably cut to create a level surface for a building. However the construction of the later Roman structure [5197] directly over this terrace destroyed most associated structural features and no clear building or structure plan could be defined. A number of undated post-holes, oven [750], and shallow pits on this terrace may be contemporaneous.

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). A series of features was recorded in Trenches F and G/H south of the main area of burial in Trench K. Most are poorly dated by artefacts but were stratigraphically early and they may represent sporadic activity during the 1st century AD. The northern edge of a terrace [599] was cut into the coombe side in the NE corner of Trench H. It was 11m long and 0.45m deep. It was presumably cut to create a level surface for a building. However the construction of the later Roman structure [5197] directly over this terrace destroyed most associated structural features and no clear building or structure plan could be defined. A number of undated post-holes, oven [750], and shallow pits on this terrace may be contemporaneous. Gully [633] was 0.3m deep and ran approximately E-W, parallel with the terrace edge. It was 0.9m wide, 4.1m long, flat based with steep sides. It may have been designed to take run off water from the terrace edge. Drier/oven [648] was 1.7m long, 0.9m wide and 0.28m deep and lined with faced chalk blocks, mortar bonded, of which a single course survived around the edge. A single BBW sherd was recovered from the mixed silty- clay loam fill. Although no signs of burning were evident, its elonagted bowl shape suggests that it had been sonstructed as a corn drier. The oven was subsequently re-built [697] with dimensions 2.25m long, 0.95m wide, and 0.26m deep. It was lined with rectangular unbonded limestone blocks and the occasional flint nodule. The remains of a central pillar running up the spine of the cut were evident. The internal faces of the limestone blocks were burnt, suggesting use as an oven or drier. The fills contained much burnt material. Another oven [750], was of ‘keyhole’ shape and situated in the NW corner of the terrace. It measured 1.14m long, 0.6m wide and 0.45m deep. The chalk natural showed signs of burning, as did the fills, in which a partial juvenile sheep skeleton and several sherds of BBW were found. An infant inhumation was also contained within the upper fill. The oven was truncated by later Roman building [5197] and disturbed by pit [579]. On abandonment the terrace was filled by a colluvial deposit containing 3rd-4th century pottery, which was largely removed by the construction of later Roman building [5197].

Record last edited

Jan 26 2007 5:45AM