Monument record MDO45809 - Early Bronze Age pit cluster, Gussage St Michael

An area of activity broadly associated with Beaker pottery encountered during excavations on Cranborne Chase in the 1980s. During work at the Down Farm pond barrow pits spread over an area of circa 250 square metres were noted, some cut by the barrow and associated with Beaker sherds and Early Bronze Age flintwork. The evidence seems to suggest that the area was used repeatedly, perhaps seasonally, during the Early Bronze Age.

An area of activity broadly associated with Beaker pottery encountered during excavations on Cranborne Chase in the 1980s. During work at the Down Farm pond barrow pits spread over an area of circa 250 square metres were noted, some cut by the barrow and associated with Beaker sherds and Early Bronze Age flintwork. The filling of the pond barrow itself featured a quantity of residual Beaker pottery, while further sherds and undiagnostic flints were found in a buried soil sealing the nearby cursus ditch (Linear 41). Similar material was also encountered at the ring ditch ST 91 SE 106, a short distance to the west. The evidence seems to suggest that the area was used repeatedly, perhaps seasonally, during the Early Bronze Age. <1>

[Located from the published plan. The interim report gives no grid reference] A cluster of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age features discovered in the immediate vicinity of the deep shaft SU 01 SW 163, which itself contained contemporary material in its upper fills, and a short distance from the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41). The most notable feature was a post-defined round house, the posts forming a circle 4.5 metres in diameter. One of the post holes contained Beaker potsherds. However, it is not clear how conclusive these are as dating evidence. A group of 5 pits a short distance away contained a range of finds. One contained Grooved Ware sherds, a deposit of possibly placed animal bone, and an unusual broken flint axe with splayed cutting edge; another pit featured sherds of both Beaker and Peterborough Ware in what were described as "partly ambiguous relations"; while 3 more contained Beaker sherds among other items. A scatter of postholes was also noted on the western side of the excavated area. <2>

<1> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 76, 120 (Monograph). SDO16633.

<2> Green, M and Allen, M J, 1997, 'An Early Prehistoric Shaft on Cranborne Chase'; Oxford Journal of Archaeology Volume 16 (2) (Article in serial). SDO16735.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1309775 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1317495 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 29 2024 12:18PM