Monument record MDO20313 - Fosters School, Tinney's Lane, Sherborne; Late Bronze Age settlement and pottery production in Area 1

Exeter Archaeology conducted an open area excavation on the site of the former Foster's School playing field, Tinney's lane during 2002 in advance of groundworks for housing development. Extensive evidence for Late Bronze Age settlement and pottery production was recorded across the site. In Area 1 this amounted to a four post structure S1 and outlying features including several pits, the most substantial of which [1029] contained 181 sherds of pottery, 11 of which were wasters.

Exeter Archaeology conducted an open area excavation at the site of the former Foster's School playing field, Tinney's Lane, Sherborne during the summer and autumn of 2002 in advance of development for housing. A draft report has been written for future inclusion within the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society [1]. The site was excavated in three main areas; Area 1 contained a four post structure [S1] in its centre. All post-holes contained heat affected limestone and two contained a total of 18 late Bronze Age pottery sherds, three of which were wasters. 'Outlying features to the southwest of S1 were also infilled with a high proportion of heat-discoloured limestone, a combined total of 21 sherds of pottery and fragments of a perforated fired clay object. To the east of S1 were three pits all of which had been deliberately backfilled with greyish-brown silty clay and limestone. The most substantial was pit 1029, which contained 181 pottery sherds, including 11 wasters. Other finds present included fragments of calcite, charred emmer/spelt, barley grains and arable weed seeds. Charcoal was identified as oak sapwood, hawthorn and blackthorn. Two fragments of charcoal from the lower fill of 1029 were radiocarbon dated to 1000-810 cal BC (SUERC-9668) and 1030-840 cal BC (SUERC-9669).' The evidence from Area 1, when taken with that from Areas 2 and 3, suggests that '...the settlement at Foster’s Field is a unique example of a Late Bronze Age specialised site, which exploited the resources available at a particular topographical locality for the production of pottery and fired clay objects.' [1]

Record last edited

Jul 8 2008 10:26AM