Monument record MDO45855 - Neolithic pits, Sixpenny Handley

Neolithic pits discovered and excavated by General Pitt Rivers in 1893 while excavating a nearby medieval enclosure. A polished stone axe, flint scrapers and flakes, and pieces of Neolithic pottery including Peterborough Ware were found in the area of the enclosure. Nearby pits contained more Peterborough Ware and Beaker pottery, flint flakes and a leaf-shaped arrowhead, and pieces of iron pyrites. Pieces of Roman pottery were found in the upper filling one pit and in the general scatter of material in the area.

A series of pits and Neolithic artefacts were discovered by Pitt Rivers during excavations within and around the Medieval enclosure SU 01 NE 27 in 1893. Within the enclosure itself, finds included a partly ground flint axe found just beneath the turf in the centre of the enclosed area, plus some scrapers and a quantity of flakes. Sherds of Earlier Neolithic bowls and of Neolithic Peterborough Ware were also found. 5 pits outside the enclosure were located and excavated (in addition to the one recorded as SU 01 NW 26) indicating the presence of Neolithic activity spread over a wide area of Handley Hill. Details of the pits are as follows:

(1) located 60 feet west of the enclosure's north corner. 1.8 feet deep, it contained a quantity of potsherds including Peterborough Ware and Beaker, as well as some Roman sherds from its upper fill. Flint flakes were also present;
(2) located just outside the enclosure's entrance, it contained 13 potsherds, 2 flakes and 22 fragments of iron pyrites;
(3) 43 feet from the enclosure's west corner, the only find was a flint leaf-shaped arrowhead;
(4) and (5), 454 feet and 410 feet east of the enclosure's eastern corner respectively, Pitt Rivers referred to the presence of "British" and Romano-British pottery. <4>

<1> Pitt-Rivers, A H L F, 1898, Excavations in Cranborne Chase near Rushmore on the Borders of Dorset and Wilts 1893-96 Volume IV, 44-9 (Monograph). SDO16623.

<2> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 34 (Monograph). SDO16633.

<3> Barrett J, Bradley R and Hall M, 1991, Papers on the prehistoric archaeology of Cranborne Chase, 134-200 (Monograph). SDO18498.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1312906 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 8 2023 12:01PM