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Abbotsbury, Dorset

A caesium vapour magnetic survey was commissioned to examine an area of a field in which cropmarks have been visible in the past & thought to relate to prehistoric settlement. The site is well placed for this sort of activity & chance finds in the area tend to support this hypothesis.

A ridgeway route passes through the field & on both sides of this exist substantial spreads of Roman-era pottery although at the time of survey there were no grounds to link the two. Survey revealed extensive buried deposits of highly magnetic material, probably burnt soil (e.g., the dark area near the centre of the image) as well as many discrete examples that are probably buried pots and pits.

Near the bottom of the image these latter can be seen in long curving lines & correspond with surface scatters of pottery and ploughed-up flat stones. This is most probably a cremation cemetery & there is another likely example further west (left).

What is not so evident from this plot is that the track has several predecessors & in each case they respect the cemetery which implies the two monuments co-existed. In addition, a further track meets the main throughfare, passing between groups of magnetic anomalies & heading in the direction of the cropmarks.

The fact that this track is still in use serves to remind us how old many everyday aspects of our landscape are.

Client

Abbotsbury Local Heritage Group