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Summary

Roundhouse with settlement activity within a Bronze Age field system.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between)) + Sci.Date

Full description

Smith, G. + David, A. + Jones, R. + Quinnell, H., 2021, A Late Bronze Age Field System and Settlement at Dainton, South Devon, 72-75, Figs 2, 15-17 (Article in Serial). SDV365337.

Excavation by English Heritage’s Central Excavation Unit in 1986 recorded a roundhouse and adjoining cairn previously part-excavated in 1949. The 1949 excavation identified one possible posthole and a number of flat slabs of shale within the ring bank and the structure was interpreted as a possible roundhouse with stone wall-bank, internal post ring and slab flooring but there was no evidence of a central hearth. The area produced pottery and other finds indicative of a domestic structure. The re-excavation in 1986 revealed the same general plan, although the ring bank had been greatly reduced by the 1949 excavation; the single posthole was re-identified and several additional pits and postholes were located. These were difficult to identify, being irregular in shape and because they had been created by prising out sections of rock along suitable existing fractures and then packing the resulting pit to create the desired size and position of post setting. Some had clearly identifiable circular settings of upright packing stones showing the position of the posts. These showed that the house had an internal ring of six posts and an entrance through the wall at the south-eas side defined by six posts. Four of the latter defined the edge of the wall, giving a wall width of circa 1.4m, while two slightly smaller postholes probably held the uprights of the door frame, giving a doorway circa 1.6m wide. Just inside the doorway was an area of closely packed rubble that was probably a remnant of flooring. The entrance features were masked by an adjoining cairn and had not been discovered in 1949. Two other pits within the house are larger and may not have been postholes. The other features seem best interpreted as postholes. Two of these were close to the inside edge of the wall-bank, and diametrically opposite to each other, perhaps representing some internal division of living space. Three smaller pits or postholes within the central area could have been for a light structure such as a weaving frame. One pit contained some young wood charcoal which produced a radiocarbon date of 387-20 cal BC (2150 +/- 80 BP).
The features found show that the house was 8.5m in internal diameter, with a roof supported on a slightly oval internal ring circa 4.5m in diameter, of six posts and a wall-bank. It had been carefully designed with the central timber setting precisely set out and oriented with the timber setting of the doorway. Neither the 1949 nor the 1986 excavations showed any evidence that the wall-bank had ever had any facing stones.
The 1949 excavation produced pottery, saddle quern fragments, spindle whorls, a flint hammer stone and flint flakes. Despite the removal of objects in 1949, the work in 1986 found a further scatter of flint and pottery in the topsoil, perhaps redeposited during the 1949 backfilling, as well as artefacts in the crevices of the bedrock and in one of the newly discovered postholes.. Excavation of the surrounding area revealed a further spread of artefacts concentrated around the north-east and east side of the house, largely below the adjacent cairn, but extending further to the north.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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