Monument record MDO49163 - Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age settlement, Wood Hill, Charlton Down, Charminster

A group of features excavated during archaeological evaluation in 2013 and excavation in 2015 of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age date and thought likely to be a settlement, possibly at the edge of a settlement. The features were separate but all had fillings rich in natural flint nodules. A pit (F18) and a ditch (F6) contained dateable material, while a further six features were similar but contained no dateable material. Ditch (F6) and an undated but very similar ditch (F16) are broadly parallel and are thought possibly to represent parts of a field system or opposite sides of an enclosure. The pit (F18) was steep-sided, circular in plan and around three metres in diameter and 1.4m deep, containing a complex sequence of fillings rich in flint and burnt flint, and with a range of artefacts including pottery, animal bone, copper alloy and slag, and the excavators felt that some of the deposits in the pit may have involved deliberate events.

Most of the artefacts and animal bone from the site came from pit (F18). These included sherds of post-Deverel Rimbury plain ware pottery, redeposited Middle Bronze Age Deverel Rimbury pottery, a fragment of what may be the socket of a copper alloy weapon or tool, and a large piece of cattle skull. Although the artefacts and animal bone could be characterised as resulting from settlement activity, excavators considered that in this feature a more complex deposition and combination of materials could be seen; an interesting earlier example of a common occurrence on later Iron Age sites in the area (Randall 2015).

McConnell, R, 2013, B0405 Wood Hill, Charlton Down, Dorchester, Dorset. Archaeological Field Evaluation in Support of a Planning Application: Impact Statement. (Unpublished document). SDO14684.

Randall, C, 2015, BO405 Wood Hill, Dorchester, Dorset. An Archaeological Excavation - The Assessment Report. (Unpublished document). SDO14686.

Record last edited

May 28 2025 4:53PM