Wool gathering

Saturday the 9th saw us at the Wool Charter Fayre. We were promoting our work on the DMV, just a few miles down the road at Corfe Castle. Although the visitors were not as numerous as last year we were very busy at the stall, with plenty of inquiries and possible new members. 

Dig Day #7

A hard slog on DD#7. The ditch system is going well, but lots of soil needs to be moved. Some nice pottery came out and at least three re-cuts have been recorded for this boundary. Also, the large pit was difficult to excavate, as the edge was very hard to find, so all that can be done is to hit it hard and hope. Messy, but that worked. The gravel fill was finally found to end at a natural clay, so it can now be finished on DD#8. 

We will be able to open the new trench soon, after completing the excavation and recording of these features. 

 

Presentation

 

DDCAG was formed to work in and for local communities. As a result we always take the opportunity to promote our work to as many people as possible, so Chris was given the task of presenting the latest excavation news to the people of Langton Matravers alongside Dr Mary Sparks, who has done a great deal of research into the history of the settlements on the Isle of Purbeck. 50+ people turned out. 

Dig Day #6

Last year we cut a couple of slots through the large north-south ditch, which may well be ditches, as it looked like one or two re-cuts had taken place, but due to adverse weather conditions it was hard to be definitive about it. This year it is plain that the re-cuts are real. The material in this section of ditch, as seen here, is very dark and the sharp line is seen cutting through the yellow clay. We have had some nice pottery from this fill, so we will be able to date this cut, which looks to be the latest event. 

This ditch is the boundary between house plots, so is very important in understanding this settlement. Our next step is to find any evidence of the houses themselves, so that we can then see how big they were.  

Day #5

 

The large pit in the corner of our trench has finally hit bottom. Not a lot has come out of this feature in the way of finds, but we continue in hope. 

The big boundary ditches that run N-S are producing extra pottery dating, so that is positive. The section will hopefully prove if we have one or two ditches running parallel and of different dates. 

It was hot today, which proves the old saying that 'life's a ditch and then we fry'!

We then visited the museum at Langton Matravers to see where we could have a small exhibition set up this year. 

Geo Recce: Day #4

The geophysics team visited to recce the next survey area. This is also an opportunity to train any members who wish to learn about this invaluable technique in pinpointing archaeological features.

Meanwhile, our digging team continues to excavate and record the ditches and pits. The pottery evidence from last years dig indicate that the ditches are 12th-14th century and the small pits are 12th century. This years dig will underline these dates and we hope that we can find more of the Roman features. 

Pot crazy! Dig Day #3

 

Madeleine found her first ever ancient artefact - a small but perfect piece of medieval pottery. One never forgets breaking ones artefacts cherry. 

Polissoir ooh-la-la

 

Hayley Roberts of Past Participate gave us a talk on the Valley of the Stones, including the Polissoir (sharpening stone). This is a large sarsen boulder where people during the Neolithic polished stone tools to a high sheen. These gave the tools more strength but also more value, in that they were objects of status that could be used for gift giving or trade. Sarsen stone is not natural to the area, having been deposited by glacial action. There are Bronze Age round houses, medieval D-shaped animal enclosures and a brickworks with kilns from about 200 years ago. PP are continuing to survey and research the deep past of this valley and surrounding landscape.   

Dig Day #2

 

Today we started to dig the features. In the foreground Hugh and Holly began to excavate what looks like a large pit. We have quartered this feature so that we have four good sections to draw later and to work back from the middle to the natural so that we have the exact shape of the pit. Jon and Annie are working on two features in the in background. Annie's looks like a nice small pit and Jon's is still indeterminate. 

Meanwhile, Chris is cutting a slot through the two large ditches that showed up last year in grid C2 and now located in this trench, grid A3.  Hard going, and we know that they are deep. 

Scott of the Antarctic wrote "My God, this is an awful place" and it may look very similar in this photo! Luckily, we work in a beautiful landscape and although it was very windy and cold (with sleet) we kept calm and carried on. 

What will Dig Day #3 bring? 

Dig Day #1

 

The first job on any site is to clean the surface after topsoil stripping. a rather tedious task, buy vital to understanding what the features look like.  

New season begins

 

The 2026 excavation has started. The investigation of this Dorset Deserted Medieval Village will continue to uncover the life of this settlement. We opened up a second 10m square and more features became apparent, so we will pick up our trowels once more every Wednesday and Sunday. 

This year we will publish our day-to-day Dig Diary along with photos of features dug and artefacts found. 

Here is the first interesting find:

This would have been used to mend two parts of a broken ceramic vessel. This has a long history, as ceramics were not just thrown away if they could be mended. The Romans did it too. In fact, there is still a very small fragment of pot under the flanges. 

 

Stone me!

 In 2023 Past Participate CIC announced the discovery of a rare earth-fast polissoir. This sarsen stone was used during the Neolithic period for polishing stone tools and today is located in the Valley of Stones, Little Bredy. 

In this illustrated talk Dr Hayley Roberts will not only discuss the polissoir but also lead us through the complex prehistoric landscape within which it sits, considering the nearby monuments, their purposes and connections. Hayley is a Co-Director of Past Participate and will also highlight the work that Past Participate do to connect local people with archaeology and the important contribution this makes to their research. 

Come along to Stratton village hall, near Dorchester, Dorset on the 28th of April at 2pm. Non-members £5, members free. 

Neolithic News!

For those readers who are Dorset residents, or a nearby county, this is the next monthly talk and get-together. 

Dorset Archaeology: a once a month talk on the deep past of the county.

Brought to you by Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group. Sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

April 11^th 2pm at Stratton village hall. Talks last about 45 minutes.  

This month it is the Neolithic: farming, pottery, monuments and religion.  

Was the Neolithic a new way of life? What exactly is a cursus monument? What were bank barrows used for? Which Dorchester c.5,000-year-old monument is still used today?

These questions will be looked at by the speaker for general discussion, with tea/coffee and cake/biscuits as well! Come along to meet other archaeology enthusiasts, have a chat and exchange ideas.   

Dig 2026

The 2026 season will begin on 1st March, with the topsoil stripping. 8th March will be the first excavation day. Lets hope that this continual rain will stop by then! 

 

Pot luck!

 

We have received the pottery report and the results are very interesting. Not only have we dated the large north-south ditches to the 12th-13th century and 13th-14th century but we have a Roman date for the east-west ditches! The DMV has ancient roots. 

'Love the Past' talk

DORSET DIGGERS 'LOVE THE PAST' TALK

Come along to Stratton Village Hall to meet Nessie Fairhair, who will give a talk on the Anglo-Saxons on the 7th of February at 3pm. Tea/coffee & snacks will be available. Members free/non-members £5.  

 

Happy New (Digging) Year!

 

We are all looking forward to the 2026 digging season here at Dorset Diggers. Our next trench will be over one of the house platforms that we believe to be constructed of stone and we also hope that other features will turn up. Last season our small 2m x 4m trench, as well as metal detecting, brought up metal and pottery by the tray load! 

We are also looking forward to the reports on the age and fabric of our 2025 pottery samples, as well as the soil samples we bagged up, which will allow us to reconstruct the immediate environment of the DMV several hundred years ago.  

Keep looking in to find out how much more archaeology we can uncover in 2026.