SDO14686 - BO405 Wood Hill, Dorchester, Dorset. An Archaeological Excavation - The Assessment Report.

Context One Archaeological Services Ltd (COAS) carried out an archaeological excavation and monitoring and recording at Wood Hill, Charlton Down during construction of a new balance tank and associated infrastructure in August and September 2015. The Site lies within an area adjacent to Bronze Age barrows, one of which is a Scheduled Monument (HE Ref.1019395) and in an area with crop marks and earthworks relating to prehistoric, Romano-British and medieval field systems. Previous archaeological fieldwork identified archaeological features and finds from Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age/Early Romano-British, and Romano-British periods. The programme of work involved archaeological monitoring of the topsoil stripping of a broad area to provide hard standing, a working area and the access road, as well as excavation of the area directly impacted by the construction of the tank. Two features (a pit and a ditch) were assigned to the Late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age. The large pit contained the majority of the artefacts and animal bone from the Site, including redeposited Middle Bronze Age pottery. The artefacts and animal bone can be characterised as resulting from settlement. The pattern of more complex deposition which occurred in the pit is a common occurrence on later Iron Age sites, and is an interesting example of the practice at this earlier date. Late Iron Age activity was represented by two pits, and Late Iron Age/Romano-British activity by a ditch. These features were generally shallower and produced only small amounts of material, implying that they may have been on the periphery of a settlement area, rather than at its core. A number of features remain undated, with two further pits, and four ditches. The character of these features means that they would fit equally well with either a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age or a Later Iron Age/Romano-British date. The Site adds significantly to the understanding of landscape use in the central Dorset area in the Later Bronze Age /Early Iron Age transition.