SDO10587 - A Late Bronze Age Pottery Production Site and Settlement at Foster's Field, Tinney's Lane, Sherborne, Dorset

Exeter Archaeology undertook the excavation of the former Foster's School playing field during summer and autumn 2002 in advance of development for housing. The site had previously been the subject of a geophysical survey (1995) and trench evaluation (1995) by AC Archaeology. This work suggested that the site contained deposits relating to Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement. The excavation was divided into three areas. The main area (Area 1) covered 3,500 square metres and was located where the densest concentration of remains had been recovered during the evaluation. A watching brief was also maintained over the rest of the site during the removal of topsoil and two further concentrations of remains were identified (Areas 1 and 3). Area 2 was located within a slight hollow at the head of a coombe and archaeological deposits had been protected by the accumulation of colluvium. In areas 1 and 3 features only survived where they were cut into the bedrock. The earliest features were six Neolithic/ Early Bronze Age pits in the eastern part of the site. Finds included 135 pottery sherds, some of which may be wasters. Pit 2569 contained an infant burial. Evidence for Middle Bronze Age activity was limited to 38 sherds of pottery, including wasters, recovered from residual contexts in Area 2. Late Bronze Age features in Area 1 comprised a four post structure and outlying features, including three pits, one of which contained pottery wasters. In area 2 numerous pits and post-holes were sealed by dumped layers. This area included extensive evidence for Late Bronze Age pottery production within an area of terracing at the north end of the coombe. These terraces may relate to clay extraction. A number of linear post-hole alignments may have functioned as windbreaks, ash layers, burnt layers and storage pits containing charred grain and pottery wasters were also excavated. A smaller concentration of pottery production features was located in the southeastern part of the coombe. Around the periphery of the pottery production zones were the remains of several post-built domestic structures including circular huts. One of the huts, Structure S10, contained 519 sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery including 259 wasters. Groups of pits and post-holes were also recorded in area 3 and are probably associated with pottery production and circular huts. Radiocarbon dates suggest that pottery production lasted on site for a period of 1-200 years between 1220-1060 cal BC and 1000-880 cal BC. The pottery assemblage comprises 14.007 sherds weighing 98,440g. The majority were Late Bronze Age and 1,908 sherds were wasters. This is one of the largest ever assemblages of Late Bronze Age pottery recovered from an excavation. 'The settlement at Foster’s Field is a unique example of a Late Bronze Age specialised site, which exploited the resources available at a particular topographical locality for the production of pottery and fired clay objects. The settlement obviously had contact with other sites and regions, with the recovery of non-local materials and goods but pottery production was probably carried out for local consumption, at a convenient period within the agricultural calendar, rather than for deliberate exchange. Production is likely to have been short-lived, behaviour remained consistent and the population was probably small.'