EDO5595 - Southern Electric Cable Trench; observations and recording 1996

An archaeological feature was reported by Miss Sybil Howard of Chetnole, during the excavation of a Southern Electric cable trench in Chetnole. This was visited by Steve Wallis from the Dorset County Council Archaeology Service on 27th February, 1996. The feature was found in the section of a north-south oriented trench. The trench was 1.9m wide with a rounded profile, and 1.1m deep at the time. The rest of the feature was deemed likely to be buried still. Subsoil of the feature’s fill consisted of buff sandy silt, burnt to red at the feature’s cut. The 0.9m deep upper fill consisted of largely re-deposited subsoil and topsoils. Meanwhile the lower fill consisted of about 80% coal in a similar matrix to the upper fill. A few small fragments of bone were mixed in with the coal, but these were unidentifiable. The feature was interpreted as a fire-pit of some form, while the use of coal suggests a relatively recent date for the feature.