The group visited the Drift Road site to train up on the newly acquired dumpy level, but we had some trouble from local residents. Luckily we had our own sheep dog. Don't worry, it was on a lead and the sheep wandered off to eat grass.
We set up the dumpy and had a go at taking levels on the handy bench mark on our feature:
However, Robert couldn't help but have a furtle:
We are stripping the vegetation off the feature on the 6th of April and starting excavation on the 13th of April! It's all getting serious now!
You will have noticed that our name has changed slightly. We thought that it was important to have 'community' in our title, as we are a campaigning heritage group engaging local communities with their heritage.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
The WDDAG committee are investigating the possibility of a 2 year landscape project for the group. The aim is to uncover the land-use and settlement development from prehistory to the present day of part of south west Dorset. If permission is granted the project will involve using aerial photographs, LIDAR results, documentary and museum research and field and geophysical survey. Carefully targeted limited excavation would be used to obtain dating, environmental and economic evidence. Local involvement will be an important part of the project, working in partnership with WDDAG. The overall results will uncover the story of this particular area over 10,000 and told through talks, guided walks, local exhibitions and publication via the internet and in print. The exact location cannot be told at present, but this is an exciting project for the near future which will involve local people researching unique local heritage for Dorset people, now and in the future.
WDDAG visited Martin Green's Down Farm this weekend, and what an experience it was! He took us through his incredible collection of artefacts unearthed on his land and surrounding parishes over many years of digging.
Some of his flint collection
A Bronze Age burial
The woman in the shaft (see below)
The museum
Martin then took us to see the unique Neolithic shaft, a natural feature reconfigured in the Neolithic for ritual and burial purposes. It is fully 32.5m deep but Martin did not dig that far! But still impressive.
Over the pit!
The pit itself, where the woman was found
Martin has also dug two round barrows, one a pond and one bowl. He has started work on reconstructing them, as they would have looked in the Early Bronze Age.
Reconstructed posts and the pond barrow in the background
This is a short film of the group visiting the reconstructed bowl barrow. Real archaeology weather!
Martin is also committed to having as many people visit his remarkable site as possible and continues to take on new archaeological investigations.
This coming Sunday we are visiting Down Farm where we will be seeing Martin Green's museum and having a tour of the nationally important features he has found on his land over the past two decades and more. Pics and a report to follow.
