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England
Dorcester - Site VIIHenge (Destroyed)
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Details of site on Pastscape A ring ditch circa 25 metres in diameter, visible as a cropmark on air photographs and excavated in 1947 in advance of gravel extraction. Located just west of the southwestern ditch of the Dorchester On Thames cursus (SU 59 NE 5), not far from the most northwesterly known extent of the cursus, the monument was referred to by Atkinson et al (1951) as a probable bell barrow, though they provide no definite evidence to support this assertion. The central area contained three pits. One was empty; one contained an unaccompanied cremation; and the third contained a cremation with burnt bronze awl. A small collared urn stood alone on a narrow shelf cut into the side of the pit. According to Atkinson et al's rather brief report, "a secondary Saxon cemetery of upwards of nine inhumations occupied the periphery of the barrow". Apparently little of the skeletons survived, presumably due to the soil conditions. Associated finds included a necklace of glass and amber beads, some spearheads and bronze disc brooches. Further burials were reportedly disturbed by a mechanical excavator when the site was dug away during subsequent gravel extraction. "Site VII", excav. 1947. A much-weathered Middle Bronze Age Round Barrow, prob. originally bell, which covered two cremated burials in separate pits (one with a small overhanging rim urn and a fragmentary bronze awl) and an empty pit. Nine secondary Saxon burials round the periphery, from which in most cases the body had entirely disappeared. [SU 56829581]. (1) The above-given siting falls at the edge of a flooded, disused gravel pit. The surrounding land is under pasture. No trace of a barrow could be found. (2) Cropmark remains of a probable round barrow seen at SU 5682 9581. The barrow is circular, defined by a single ditch and has a diameter of 25m. The site was mapped at 1;10,000 scale for the RCHME: Thames Valley NMP ( Morph No. TG.371.1.1). (3) A ring ditch circa 25 metres in diameter, visible as a cropmark on air photographs and excavated in 1947 in advance of gravel extraction. Located just west of the southwestern ditch of the Dorchester On Thames cursus (SU 59 NE 5), not far from the most northwesterly known extent of the cursus, the monument was referred to by Atkinson et al (1951) as a probable bell barrow, though they provide no definite evidence to support this assertion. In fact, only a brief summary of the ring ditch excavation was published, and for reasons unexplained the site was not among those published by Whittle et al (1992). The central area contained three pits. One was empty; one contained an unaccompanied cremation; and the third contained a cremation with burnt bronze awl. A small collared urn stood alone on a narrow shelf cut into the side of the pit. According to Atkinson et al's rather brief report, "a secondary Saxon cemetery of upwards of nine inhumations occupied the periphery of the barrow". Apparently little of the skeletons survived, presumably due to the soil conditions. Associated finds included a necklace of glass and amber beads, some spearheads and bronze disc brooches. Further burials were reportedly disturbed by a mechanical excavator when the site was dug away during subsequent gravel extraction. (4-6) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCE TEXT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia 11-12, 1947 Page(s)164 (2) Field Investigators Comments F1 ASP 20-MAR-68 (3) RCHME/EH Aerial Photographers Comment Fiona Small/01-Apr-1993/RCHME: Thames Valley NMP (4) by R J C Atkinson, C M Piggott and N K Sandars 1951 Excavations at Dorchester, Oxon: first report. Sites I, II, IV, V and VI, with a chapter on henge monuments Page(s)60 (5) by Audrey Meaney 1964 A gazetteer of early Anglo-Saxon burial sites Page(s)208 (6) Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society - Whittle A et al. Excavaions in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Complex at Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire 1947-52 and 1981. 58, 1992 Page(s)143-201 |
Posted by Chance5th February 2012ce |
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