Description

Summary: All Finds (contexts 26-510) from Dunch Hill, Tidworth, excavated by Wessex Archaeology in 1995.

Research results

The assorted archaeological finds from Dunch Hill, Tidworth, excavated by Wessex Archaeology in 1995. These excavations unearthed ditches, burials and structures associated with an extensive mid- to late-bronze age settlement. In addition, the earliest archaeological feature identified was a pit containing Late Neolithic and Beaker pottery; carbonised hazel nut shell and charcoal from this feature have been sampled for radiocarbon dating, producing results of 3692 (+/-27) BP and 3710 (+/-30) BP.

This group was sampled as part of Roberts and Marshall's (2020) project synthesising the dating evidence of Neolithic pit digging in Wiltshire, as part of which a number of new radiocarbon dates were obtained. In addition to providing new insights into the chronology of Neolithic pit digging and ceramic depositon, the study also gives further support to a theorised decline in cultivation in the mid- to late-neolithic, when grains decrease in frequency and a shift to a more pastoral way of life may have occured.