Monument record MWX3661 - Bestwall Quarry Archaeological Project, Field J, Bronze Age domestic area and cremations

Most features of MBA date consisting of linears, pits and postholes. A complex domestic area and two cremations on the boundary of the settlement were identified

Early Bronze Age: no features but some worked flint including a fine tanged arrowhead found on the surface of a ditch
Middle Bronze Age: 46 features, majority associated with complex domestic area divided into three phases
Phase 1: east-west ditch across the site, max width 2m, depth 0.88m; round steep sided pit containing burnt flint and charcoal and pottery including a sherd from a large urn; three other ditches varying from 1.3m to 0.74m wide and 0.5-0.85m deep, finds included worked and burnt flint, part of a hearthstone quern and small quantities of pottery. Large flat slab of partly fired red clay retrieved
Phase 2: hut structure consisting of an eaves drip gully which enclosed 26 postholes and 7 stake holes in haphazard layout. Surviving terminal of ditch suggests and east facing entrance. Gully 0.5m wide and 0.26m deep. Central hearth of gravel cobbles et into a matrix of baked clay and charcoal. Fragments of a corrugated copper alloy bracelet found in soils above the hearth. Nearby was an area of burnt red sand. Within the hut a pit with vertical sides and a flat base may have been for storage. North-south ditch lay directly west of the hut, 1m wide and 0.65m deep on average. Contained pottery including fine Deverel Rimbury vessels and thick walled urns. Two further ditches dated to this phase on ceramic evidence
Phase 3: short period of intense activity after the hut went out of use. Pit (7.5m x 3.25m x 1.2m deep) dug 5m east of the hut. A second triangular shaped pit (3.5m x 4.75m x 4m x 0.72m deep) contained pottery, raw clay, charcoal and a copper alloy twisted bracelet with tapered ends. Large pieces of hearthstone embedded in raw clay close by. A third pit filled with burnt flint. Spread of burnt flint in hut doorway. Rich pottery assemblage including sherds from fine globular urns, small, medium and large bucket urns.
In addition:
Two cremations excavated, one with a tiny inverted pot in a pit only just large enough for the vessel and a second cremation in a vertical sided pit and a vessel decorated with applied cordon and fingerprint impressions, Two pots separated by 200m and may have been on the boundaries of the settlement area.
Two 'special' deposits in pits also revealed one with at least twelve Deverel Rimbury vessels represented and another, isolated from other BA activity, with a compact fill of 13 ceramic loom weights and sherds from two urns, one plain and one with applied cordon and fingerprints.
Cluster of pit type features, probably associated with the hut structure. In one pit two large postholes were revealed under a sticky clay fill. Pottery, burnt flint, hearthstone and clay suggest small scale industrial activity
9 charcoal pits of MBA date (see WX3516)
Late Bronze Age: few features and very small amounts of pottery, generally small and undiagnostic sherds identified of fabric types

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 2001, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 2000, 160 (Serial). SDO11605.

<1> Ladle, L, 2001, Bestwall Quarry Archaeological Project, Phase 10 - 2001 (Unpublished document). SWX8531.

Record last edited

Apr 3 2021 3:04PM