Monument record MDO18026 - Maiden Castle Road prehistoric quarrying features

A large feature comprising a series of interconnecting scoops and associated linear features also composed of scoops, possibly a quarry for flint or chalk, found during the excavations at Maiden Castle Road in 1987.

Found during the excavations to the north of Maiden Castle Road undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1987 in advance of the Dorchester By-pass construction. The following description is abstracted from the final published report on the site (1). The numbers in square brackets refer to context numbers quoted in the report.

Towards the southern end of the excavation, was an irregular feature [02287] 8m across comprising a series of intercutting hollows up to 0.7m deep. Two shallow linear features ran off towards the WSW from the western side of this feature, comprising shallow intercutting scoops rather than a continuous linear feature. Another linear feature was observed during road construction to the east and may be a comparable feature. Adjacent to the quarry were three shallow scoops. All these features were filled with pale brown clayey soil fills. A small quantity of earlier Neolithic pottery was recovered from these features, together with some indeterminate earlier pot, some of which may be Middle Bronze Age in date, and three antler fragments. A small quantity of Roman pottery was found in the top of these features, plus some intrusive post-medieval material. Snail samples from the quarry indicate that it existed in an open environment. These features have been interpreted as the result of quarrying. It is unclear whether they were dug for the extraction of flint or for chalk for marling. The dating of them is uncertain. The excavators suggest that the Neolithic pottery was residual and that the quarry pits were perhaps of Bronze Age date.

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 68 NE 143 (Index). SDO9937.

Wessex Archaeology, 1987, Dorchester By-pass (Excavation archive). SDO9385.

Woodward, P J and Smith, R J C, 1987, Survey and excavation along the route of the Southern Dorchester By-pass, 1986-1987 – an interim note, 79-89 (Article in serial). SDO9381.

Smith, R J C et al, 1997, Excavations along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986-8, 56-70 (Monograph). SDO9379.

Record last edited

Mar 15 2012 10:46AM