EDO3909 - New Cemetery, Poundbury, Dorchester; Excavation Area 1

Wessex Archaeology undertook an archaeological excavation on land adjacent to Poundbury Road, Dorchester to be used as a new cemetery. Two areas, totalling c. 570 m2 were excavated. Area 1 measured approximately 20m x 5.5m with a small rectilinear extension on its northern edge covering a further c.15 square metres. It was located at the far western end of the proposed new cemetery to establish whether any archaeological features, deposits or artefacts associated with the Bronze Age enclosed settlement identified in the 1997 evaluation extend into the proposed development area. Two large pits were found in Area 1. Early Roman pottery in the upper fills of one of these pits suggests that it is of prehistoric date. The proximity and morphological similarities of the second pit suggest that the pits were contemporary, although neither can be more precisely dated. These pits were probably chalk quarries, the material obtained being used to marl the fields or perhaps in the construction and/or remodelling of the Poundbury Camp ramparts.