Monument record MDO37241 - Early Iron Age pit (7344) on Southdown Ridge, Weymouth

One of a group of pits in an alignment on the crest of a ridge, and interpreted as forming the northern boundary of an early Iron Age settlement.

Pit 7344 was 1.50m in diameter and 0.40m deep. It had an uneven base and sloping sides, unlike the other pits in this group. The filling was dark grey clayey silt containing small rubble, with traces of fuel ash slag. It had been back filled with limestone blocks. The pottery (18 sherds) from this pit included a red-finished oolitic jar rim, and calcite-tempered and shell-tempered body fragments. The animal bone found in this pit consisted of two special deposits. The first was a horse skull lacking mandibular teeth, indicating that the jaw bones were disarticulated from the skull before deposition. The other was the partial skeleton of a piglet, mostly leg and pelvis elements. The association of these with the horse skull suggested that they had been selected for deliberate placement. {1}

<1> Brown, L, Hayden, C and Score, D, 2014, 'Down to Weymouth town by Ridgeway'. Prehistoric, Roman and later sites along the Weymouth Relief Road, 161-164 (Monograph). SDO14013.

Record last edited

Jul 20 2021 3:52PM