Proc Dorset Natur Hist Archaeol Soc 122

Examines the Romanesque architectural features of four ecclesiastical buildings in Dorset. Focuses on carved-stone features.

Reports palaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological fieldwork focusing on the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the Wyke Down area of Cranborne Chase, Dorset. The surveys were undertaken to develop our understanding of the interactions between prehistoric settlement and land-use, the monumental landscape and landscape/environmental change.

Reports the investigation of an area adjacent to the River Crane on the eastern outskirts of Cranborne, which revealed traces of sporadic later prehistoric, Roman and medieval activity along the edge of the river. This included several pits of Bronze or Iron Age date filled with burnt flint and charcoal; and a single isolated third-century Roman cremation burial in a pottery vessel; and a number of thirteenth-century AD pits. Includes separately authored reports on:

which notes that the remains represent an adult, with no observable pathological lesions

which records 140 bone fragments, mostly cattle and sheep/goat. A number of cereal grains (?rye and wheat/barley) were recognised in the cremation deposit

which describes the important components of the assemblage

The earliest phase of activity was represented by several pits containing domestic refuse of twelfth--thirteenth century date. There was little surviving evidence for occupation on the site during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but a structure had been built on the street frontage and robbed for its stone by the early-seventeenth century. The sixteenth to eighteenth centuries saw a period of relatively intense pit digging, although no contemporary structures were identified. The restricted range of finds included the first substantial assemblage of medieval pottery excavated from the town. Includes separately authored reports on:

which documents objects including metalwork, clay pipes and stone items

Describes two gold torques which were discovered with the use of a metal detector in a ploughed field near Chickerell. Earlier fieldwork at the site had established a rich material assemblage from the Neolithic to the Romano-British period. Small-scale excavations identified a possible hut and a terrace bounded by a gully. These features were dated by pottery to the LBA/EIA period.

Reports the excavation of two rectilinear earthworks thought to have been Roman forts associated with the neighbouring Roman road. The investigation determined that the enclosure was created between 150 and 200 years ago to mark out an area of heathland for growing trees.

Survey and excavation revealed earthworks and features to the north of a Roman building. The earthworks represented various periods of activity including Romano-British, medieval and post-medieval. With the exception of the Roman structure the investigated area provided no evidence of settlement. See also 2002/919.

which discusses a landscape survey undertaken to provide information for a hedge conservation programme

which reports 181 post-holes, some containing Bronze Age material

which records various periods of activity, including: LBA to EIA settlement features; a LIA or Early Romano-British rectangular structure; a Late Romano-British cemetery; a Saxo-Norman boundary ditch; and the foundation of a medieval limestone/flint wall