SDO9932 - Poundbury Development, Phase II, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset. Archaeological Post-Excavation Assessment Report

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by the Duchy of Cornwall to undertake two archaeological excavations and an archaeological watching brief in advance of construction works at Poundbury Parkway, Dorchester. An earlier evaluation by Wessex Archaeology had suggested that archaeological remains dating from the Bronze Age period were present on site. The excavations confirmed the presence of predominantly Middle Bronze Age remains and also found some evidence of Iron Age and Roman-British activity. The site contained evidence of Middle Bronze Age activity consisting of a possible settlement enclosure located within a more extensive field system probably related to arable cultivation and animal management. Two structures, possibly domestic in nature, were recorded, this reinforces the picture, from previous fieldwork in the area, of a collection of small farmsteads exploiting the landscape. Activity on the site in the form of chalk quarrying appears to have resumed during the (possibly late) Iron Age and Romano-British period.