SDO14441 - Grimstone Reservoir, Dorchester, Dorset. An Archaeological Excavation - The Assessment Report.

Context One Archaeological Services Ltd (COAS) carried out an archaeological excavation at Grimstone Reservoir in June and July 2012 (Phase 1) and again in February 2013 (Phase 2). This was followed by archaeological monitoring and recording during the installation of a compound and Site access road, and during test pitting and bore hole surveys carried out over three days between 30 April and 9 July 2012. The site lies between two areas rich in crop marks and earthworks relating to Bronze Age barrows, extensive Iron Age and Romano-British field systems (including a Scheduled Monument (SM no. 1003771)), and a medieval field system. Previous archaeological surveys indicated that the field systems belonged to a larger system, with features to the east and south of the reservoir revealing occupation dating to the early Iron Age and spanning the Middle and Late Iron Age and the Romano-British period. The previous evaluation to the south of the reservoir identified a circular enclosure possibly for ceremonial use, and various ditches. To the east of the reservoir, the area encompassed by the excavation appears to have been at the centre of habitation, with features spanning the Middle Iron Age to the Late Iron Age/Early Romano-British periods. Both the setting within an extensive area of Iron Age field systems and the important non-hillfort pottery assemblage are of sufficient local and regional significance in themselves to warrant publication in the county journal. Other aspects of the Site that warrant further research are the unusual chalk discs, found in a pit during the evaluation, comparative small-scale metal working within a domestic context, and other comparative examples of ceremonial enclosures.