Find Spot record MDO8511 - Early Bronze Age finds, Barrow Plot, Wick Lane, Bournemouth

A quantity of late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age finds was recovered from a field known as Barrow Plot on the south side of Wick Lane during gravel extraction in 1926-9. This included two barbed and tanged arrowheads, a plano-convex flint knife, a discoidal knife.

A gravel pit in a plot of ground on the south side of Wick Lane adjacent to a barrow was active during 1926-9. Local antiquarian Herbert Druitt kept a close watch on this site and managed to recover a large quantity of finds dating from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Iron Age. The finds included two barbed and tanged arrowheads, a plano-convex knife and a discoidal flint knife. (1)

(SZ 15259210) In 1926 a gravel pit was opened in the plot of ground on the south side of Wick Lane, gravel digging starting 12 yds from the western edge of the barrow (See SZ 19 SE 21).

During the following 3 years almost an acre was excavated, and a great deal of the pottery found was saved and taken into the Druitt Collection, as well as Pa and Ne implements.

The following items were found

PA 9 hand axes (Acheulion).
Ne'A' 2 leaf arrowheads; 5 flint axes.
Me 12 transverse arrowheads; 1 axe or adze of stone; 1 plano-convex
knife; 1 microlith; 7 picks.
EBA 2 Barbed and tanged arrowheads; 1 discoidal knife.
MBA four urns (tripartite): 1 bronze spearhead.
LBA 11 urns or cremations (barrel & bucket urns).
LBA/EIA 1 urn, and few fragments of IA 'A' pottery. (1-4).

Possible bucket urns found near earlier barrow at Wick Lane; now in the Druitt Collection (a).

MBA Spearhead: Socketed with loops half-way along the socket. A very pronounced mid-rib to the blade (5).

The site of the gravel pit has now been built over. (6)

National Record of the Historic Environment, 458583 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Evans, J, 1881, The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland, 323 (Monograph). SWX3100.

Calkin, J B, and Green, J F N, 1949, Palaeoliths and Terraces near Bournemouth. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 15, 21-37, 36 (Article in serial). SDO19058.

Wymer, J, 1993, The Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project: the Upper Thames Valley, the Kennet Valley and the Solent drainage system (Monograph). SWX4473.

Aldsworth, F G, Various, Field Investigators Comments FGA, F1 FGA 31-MAR-69 (Unpublished document). SWX1161.

<1> Calkin, J B, 1952, Bournemouth Area in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age times (Article in serial). SWX3647.

Record last edited

Aug 10 2023 12:16PM