Wessex Archaeology News

The site of one of the largest hoards of Bronze Age axes ever found in Britain has been investigated by Wessex Archaeology.

At a site on the Isle of Purbeck in south Dorset, metal detector users found hundreds of Bronze Age axes in late October and early November 2007.

The axes, though not made of gold or silver, seem certain to qualify as Treasure when the Dorset Coroner holds an inquest into their discovery. Revisions to the original Treasure law mean that prehistoric objects of bronze can be classed as treasure, opening the way to a reward for the metal detector users and the landowner.

The metal detector users could hardly believe their luck when the discovery of one complete bronze axe and a fragment of another led them to identify three hot spots close by. The hotspots proved to be hoards of axes. Having reported the finds to the government funded Portable Antiquities Scheme, the detectors returned the following weekend. And promptly found another hoard containing hundreds of axes. In total at least 300 axes were found.

Following a request from the British Museum, who will give expert opinion to the county Coroner as to whether finds should be defined as Treasure, and the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a team from Wessex Archaeology undertook a follow up excavation.

Find out more on the Bronze Age Axes project website.

In December we announced the discovery of a Roman stone coffin at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Inside were the remains of a woman cradling a child in her arms. The unique environment within the coffin had allowed the preservation of the leather and cork slippers of the lady, as well as the child’s calf skin shoes. This was an exceptionally rare find.

Finding a complete coffin with lid intact, and witnessing the removal of the lid was a momentous occasion for all of the archaeologists working on the site.

Fortunately, we were able to capture these exciting moments on video to share with you. This short film begins with our osteoarchaeologist Jacqueline McKinley removing soil from around the coffin, the first look inside the coffin with an infra-red camera, to the removal of the lid and the careful excavation and planning of the remains inside.

Opening a Roman Coffin from Wessex Archaeology on Vimeo.

A shorter (10 minute) version is available on YouTube.

Archaeologists have found a medieval cemetery, probably part of the St Margaret’s church burial ground, at Christchurch Park.

The burials were found while a new drainage system for the park renovations was being dug. Archaeologists were watching the pipe trench being dug because it was known that the cemetery, which is at least 500 years old, lay nearby but it was not known exactly where. In order to protect the burials, the route of the pipe has been re-routed across the lawns of the park.

Find out more at our Christchurch Park project website.

A Roman stone coffin, probably dating to the 3rd or 4th centuries AD, was found recently in archaeological excavations in Poundbury, Dorchester.

Visit our project page on the discovery of the coffin for photographs and further information.

Update! We now have a project homepage for this site with more detailed information.

The latest discovery at Jewry Street has been a row of up to 8 Roman cess pits, running in a line north to south through the middle of the site. They lie half way between two Roman streets and either served a public building or, more likely, lay to the rear of the houses which fronted the two streets. The pits are cut 5-6 metres deep into the underlying chalk and only one other like them has been found in Winchester.

The pits are an exciting source of evidence: as well as degraded human waste, they contain fragments of pottery, building materials and many animal bones.

Small items have been found: bronze finger rings, a fine bone pin, tweezers and coins accidentally dropped into the pits nearly 2,000 years ago.

The most valuable information may well come from the smallest finds of all - the remains of mineralised seeds, fruit stones and insects, which will give us more evidence of the diet and way of life in Roman Winchester.

Update! We now have a project homepage for this site with more detailed information.

Archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology continue to uncover evidence of Winchester’s past at 19-20 Jewry Street before the start of building work later this month.

Apart from the medieval cellar which extends the full width of the property, numerous pits and wells dug in the 16th-18th centuries have largely destroyed evidence of earlier periods.

However one exception to this is a piece of fine Roman pottery, of a type known as samian ware, which was being imported into Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It is of particular interest because it has a near complete maker’s stamp, SVRD–LVS.F. Research suggests that it is the mark of SVRDILLVS, a potter who worked in Lezoux in central France between 90-150AD. The F at the end of the name stands for fecit, Latin for ‘made (it)’.

Update! We now have a project homepage for this site with more detailed information.

An excavation is being carried out in Jewry Street, Winchester, ahead of development on the site by Mr M Bakhaty. The site is in the north-west corner of the historic core of Winchester. This area of the town is known to contain archaeological evidence of Winchester’s medieval, Saxon, Roman and Iron Age past.
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