Monument record MDO37242 - Early Iron Age pit (7248) 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 7248 was 1.10m in diameter and almost 1m deep. The sides curved out slightly and the base of the pit was rounded. A filling in the bottom of the pit appeared to represent a collapse of topsoil from the top edge, suggesting the pit may have been left open for a period. Analysis of a sample from this layer revealed grains of wheat, barley, emmer/spelt, vetches, tares and a single celtic bean, along with remains of grass and rushes. The main filling of the pit was dark brown gritty silt incorporating abundant pieces of limestone. Pottery found in the pit was of early Iron Age date, and included fragments of three bowls in oolitic fabric, two of them red-finished, and a jar with a squared rim. A small number of animal bones from the pit included sheep/goat metacarpals. {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, 164 (Monograph). SDO14013.

Record last edited

Jul 20 2021 3:52PM