SDO197 - Dorchester, Maumbury Rings. Archaeological observations 1991.

In March 1991 British Telecom carried out cable trenching and joint box construction works in the areas to the south and west of Maumbury Rings, Dorchester. The locations of the trench and joint box are given in Fig 1. Archaeological works were carried out for British Telecom by Bournemouth Polytechnic. No prehistoric, Roman or medieval features or finds were recorded in the joint box trench, but in view of such extensive disturbance by trenching their absence is inconclusive. The edge of the Roman road, or its flanking ditch, might have been expected, but the alignment may well lie a little to the east. The absence of Roman burial evidence is less surprising, since a boundary might be expected between a cemetery and the Roman road. The clay loam (2) was a buried soil, apparently an old ground surface. The voids (21) caused by the decay of wood were interpreted as the remains of decaying tree roots. These might indicate that the site had been used as a garden or orchard, or they might simply represent roadside tree planting. The later history of the site is dominated by the construction of successive road or footpath surfaces and the installation of services in trenches. The compacted chalk material (19) was probably the foundation of a road. The earliest pipe trench (17; possibly 19th-century) and the electricity cable trench (15) were covered with a layer of cinders (14) which is the earliest identifiable road or path surface. It must date from the earliest part of this century. This footpath or road has subsequently been resurfaced at intervals and further service trenches have been added.