More information : (SU 20914870 - SU 21724597 - SU 22514277
Ditch (NR), Ditch (NR) (Course of) (TI) (SU 21274945 -
21374983) Ditch (NR). (1)
A boundary drove-way, probably dating from not earlier than the
end of the LBA and not later than the EIA. Visible on APs. (2-3)
This is a continuous linear feature of ranch boundary type
consisting of a ditch up to 0.6m deep flanked by shallow spread
banks of upcast. It is in good condition across the army ranges
apart from minor mutilations but in the farmland to the south
it has been ploughed out though it is still visible as a soil
mark on APs. The APs also suggest that the ditch overlies the
extensive celtic field system.
Published 1:2500 survey revised. (4-5)
Air-photograph suggests an extension from [SU 21375012 to SU
21525012]. (6)
The Brigmerston Down Linear Ditch was included in the Wessex Linear Ditch Project and forms the western boundary of the Northern Core Territory. Excavations were carried out at SU 20474737 (LDP 092) and SU 20584840 (LDP 098) where the ditch was found to be flat-bottomed, 3m wide and up to 1.65m deep, worked flint was recovered from all silts. At LDP 092 the ditch had silted up naturally and was flanked on either side by a bank, each with buried soils and a post hole. A stratified sequence of Middle - Late Bronze Age pottery was recovered from the buried soil beneath the western bank. Animal bone was recovered from the buried soil beneath the eastern bank. The ditch at LDP 098 appears to have been deliberately backfilled followed by an episode of clearance, possibly for cultivation. The upper ditch fill illustrated an intensive phase of cultivation and gave rise to a lynchet. The pottery assemblage recovered from the lynchet included Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery.
(7). |