Monument record MDO19345 - Bargates, Christchurch (site X17); Bronze Age ring ditch 2

Excavation at Bargates, Christchurch, during 1977 (site X17), revealed two Bronze Age ring ditches. Ring ditch 2 was only partially revealed in the northern corner of the site. It was sectioned at one point and found to be V-profiled, 2.0m wide and 0.8m deep. The fill contained late Neolithic – early Bronze Age flint, although a subsequent watching brief in 1982 recovered a sherd from a collared urn from this ring ditch. It probably represents the remains of a round barrow and may have had an external bank.

K. Jarvis directed an excavation at Bargates, Christchurch, during 1977-8 (site X17) in advance of development. The results were subsequently published in DNHAS monograph 5 (1). The excavations revealed two Bronze Age ring ditches. Ring ditch 2 was only partially revealed in the northern corner of the site. It was sectioned at one point and found to be V-profiled, 2.0m wide and 0.8m deep. The fill comprised grey-white sand with iron panning and contained late Neolithic – early Bronze Age worked flint. A subsequent watching brief in 1982 recovered a sherd from a collared urn from this ring ditch. No associated Bronze Age features were identified within it, possibly due to cultivation destroying the buried ground surface and shallow features. However, it probably represents the remains of an early-middle Bronze Age round barrow and may have had a small internal mound, suggested by the higher level of the natural gravel at the centre. Furthermore, patches of sand on the exterior of the ring ditch may indicate the surviving traces of an external bank. The ring ditches were subsequently enclosed within a field system and then became the site of adjacent settlement in the 7th-8th centuries BC. This is at variance with other barrows in the Christchurch area and might suggest that the ring ditches actually represent settlement. The lack of occupation material from the ditch fills argues against this however.

Record last edited

Mar 21 2011 10:30AM