Monument record MDO5645 - Ring ditch, Down Farm, Gussage St Michael

A ring ditch probably originating in the late Neolithic was almost certainly the cememtery for the nearby Down Farm Middle Bronze Age enclosure. Three crouched inhumations were found within the ring-ditch and nine Deverel-Rimbury cremations to the south east of it.

ST 9990 1455. Ring ditch at Down Farm. A ring ditch probably originating in the late Neolithic was almost certainly the cememtery for the Down Farm Middle Bronze Age enclosure. Three crouched inhumations were found within the ring-ditch and nine Deverel-Rimbury cremations to the south east of it.

Ring-ditch, excavated, shallow pit near centre contained chalk rubble only, the circular area, defined by ditch, (i) crouched infant burial in small pit (ii) three crouched burials, probably male, female and adolescent, differently orientated, two were from the upper fill South terminal of the outer recut and the third (which had two shell beads) was just outside the ditch, a hole (for marker post?) was associated with this group, the latest recut contained beaker sherds, flintwork, and bone and seems to have been very soon backfilled, it was capped by a flint cairn-ring containing sherds of beaker and D/R wares, South East of the ring-ditch and impinging on it was a D/R cemetery of which 9 cremations (4 in urns whose tops had been removed by the plough) where identified as well as a decayed extended inhumation whose skull was covered with flint nodules, in the ditch was a crude ring of postholes, perhaps of D/R phase. <1>

ST 99941456. Two roughly concentric ring ditches visible on air photographs, outer ring diameter 16 m, inner ring diameter 10 m. Beaker and ?earlier; flat Deverel-Rimbury cemetery adjacent SE, 130 m from settlement [SU 01 SW 84]. Complex re-cuts, excavated by M. Green. <4>

A ring ditch at Down Farm of later Neolithic origin, re-used in the Middle Bronze Age when it appears to have been associated with the nearby enclosure (SU 01 SW 84). The site was excavated in 1982, having been identified as a cropmark. The first phase ring ditch appears to have been circa 15 metres in diameter and was of polygonal appearance. A mound may have existed during this phase. Subsequently, there was evidence for two concentric ditches, the inner of which was a recut of the original ditch. All these features were sealed by silts containing Middle Bronze Age matrial as well as a quantity of Beaker pottery and flints. Dating evidence from these ditches was sparse, but two Y-shaped flint tools and a tranchet axe came from the original ditch. Later deposits included a lozenge arrowhead while Peterborough Ware sherds were found in the ploughsoil above the site. It was also possible to correlate the molluscan sequence from the primary ditch with that obtained from the nearby Cursus (LIN 41). Following some disturbance from ploughing, the site was re-used in the Middle Bronze Age as the focus for a small cemetery. The ditch appears to have been recut, this narrow slot being deliberately backfilled, and then sealed with a dense deposit of flint nodules. Deverel-Rimbury potsherds, worked flint and some cremated bone was present in the ditch fill, all concentrated on the southeastern side. A number of post holes were present, some cutting the flint packing, but they did not form a clear pattern or structure. Some at least may represent marker posts for burials. 13 cremation deposits were located, some accompanied by Deverel-Rimbury sherds, and all forming a compact group on the south and south-east of the monument. Five inhumations were also found, mostly to the southwest of the monument. Three formed a compact group with a post at its centre. Further unburnt bones were found in the northern sector. A bronze spiral ring was found in the ploughsoil. <6>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1982, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1980, 85 (Serial). SDO80.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 40 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<3> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (Monograph). SWX800.

<4> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 8 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<4.1> Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography, CUCAP OAP CFD 018 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19516.

<5> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 87-90, 211-4 (Monograph). SDO16633.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 872039 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 23 2023 11:49AM