Monument record MDO7527 - Mesolithic site, Blashenwell, Corfe Castle

A Mesolithic site at Blashenwell, first examined in 1895, had been sealed beneath a tufa deposit resulting from stream action. Up to 500 flakes were said to have been found, but appear to have been lost since. Small collections of material in Dorset County Museum (Dorchester), the Natural History Museum (London), and the Red House Museum (Christchurch) as well as private collections may have been collected from the site on subsequent occasions. Animal remains, including bones of ox, deer and pig plus marine and land shells were also found on the site. A piece of ox bone has yielded a radiocarbon determination of 4500+/-150 bc (uncalibrated). Deposition of tufa apparently ceased before the Roman period, the site being overlain by soil containing Roman debris.

SY 95108052. A Mesolithic occupation site at Blashenwell uniquely fossilized by a tufaceous marl deposit from a nearby stream was first studied in detail by Reid in 1895. Four to five hundred un-retouched flakes were said to have been found but these appear to have been lost; the small assemblages of artifacts in Dorset County Museum, British Museum (Nat Hist), Red House Museum (Christchurch) and private collections may have been collected since the initial investigation of the site. Animal bone, including ox, deer and pig together with marine and land shells were also found on the site. A piece of ox bone from the middle zone of the tufa deposit has been dated to 4500-+ 150 BC.(ie. Atlantic Climatic period). Deposition of the tufa ceased before the Roman period and the site is overlaid by topsoil containing Roman debris and occupation. <1-8>

<1> Prehistoric Society, 1938, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 4, 330-2 (Serial). SDO18631.

<2> Bournemouth Natural Science Society, 1949-1950, Proceedings of the Bournemouth Natural Science Society 39, 48-51 (Serial). SDO16928.

<3> 1961, Radiocarbon; An International Journal of Cosmogenic Isotope Research (Serial). SDO19657.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1962, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1961, 94-95 (Serial). SDO61.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(Name centred SY 951805) Mesolithic Midden (NR)

<6> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 511 (Monograph). SDO150.

Mesolithic implements and flint flakes with bones of pig, deer, and ox sealed by tufa deposit and dated by C-14 method to 4490+/- 150 B.C.

<7> Wymer, J J, and Bonsall, C, 1977, Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales, with a gazetteer of Upper Palaeolithic sites in England and Wales, 67-8 (Monograph). SWX2026.

<8> Palmer, S, 1978, Mesolithic cultures of Britain, 139-41 (Monograph). SWX1704.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456800 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 16 2023 6:50PM