SDO21374 - Hillfort House, Poundbury Road, Dorchester. Archaeological Watching Brief

OASIS: The works monitored included the initial ground reduction of the site either to the surface of the natural chalk or to the construction level, as well as a small test pit located in the south-east corner of the site. The attending archaeologist monitored all mechanical excavations within the specified area. Where necessary, the surfaces of uncovered archaeological deposits were cleaned by hand to aid visual definition. A sample of archaeological features and deposits was hand-excavated, sufficient to address the project aims. 4.2.3 Spoil from machine stripping and hand-excavated archaeological deposits was visually scanned for the purposes of finds retrieval. Artefacts were collected and bagged by context. All artefacts from excavated contexts were retained, although those from features of modern date (19th century or later) were recorded on site and not retained, although a single sherd of post medieval pottery was retained as dating from the surface of one of the excavated postholes. Project Results: the watching brief confirmed a lack of archaeological features and deposits across the site area, which was stripped to the level of impact of the proposed development. Widespread disturbance was present across the development area, with made ground deposits particularly dense within the southern extent of the site. Whilst it was evident that the north-eastern extent of the site was least affected by such disturbance, a series of modern postholes indicate the presence of a former structure within this area. Most likely related to the known military use of the area, the structure may also pertain to agricultural land use and as such conclusions regarding the function of the structure are not able to be defined. The disturbance within the southern and central areas of the site are believed to be linked to the construction of the adjacent Hillfort House, with an identified gravel surface possibly relating to an access road or compound for these works. Despite a lack of evidence within the site bounds for archaeological remains, given the depth of the hillfort ditches as recorded during earlier works, it remains possible that some deeper features, such as the outer ditch, survive beneath the remaining made ground.