Burnt mound discovered by archaeologist on Dorset cliff could have been used in Bronze Age ritual feasts

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Two-week dig aims to reveal more about mound which could have been sweat lodge or industrial site

A scorched mound hanging from a Dorset cliff could have burnt during ritual feasting 3,000 years ago, say experts who have narrowly managed to examine the Bronze Age feature before its destruction by coastal erosion.

Local archaeologist Anthony Pasmore spotted the mound disappearing into soft sands and clays as part of a cliff face near Seatown. Buried beneath more than a metre of sand and soil, the decay has made it slightly more visible.

“This is the first burnt mound found in West Dorset,” says Martin Papworth, the National Trust’s regional archaeologist, who is part of a two-week dig which aims to reveal more about the discovery.

“They are more common in the Midlands but nobody is sure what they were used for.

“We don’t know if this burnt mound was something used for ritual feasting, a sweat lodge or an industrial site but we hope to find enough clues to shed a little more light on it.

“We’ll take samples as we dig down through it to understand it better.”

Sections be radiocarbon dated alongside pollen which could show whether the original position of the mound was in a wooded or grassy area.

“There are a lot of large blank areas on the archaeology map of West Dorset,” accepts Papworth.

“But with some of the projects we are doing in the area, we are starting to fill in a few of them and we hope this site will reveal something of interest.”

A geophysical survey will also be held as part of a year-long Coastal Festival celebrating the Neptune Coastline Fundraising project – a campaign which has raised more than £65 million since being launched 50 years ago.

• Visit nationaltrust.org.uk/swcoas for more on the festival.

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Three museums to see Bronze Age archaeology in:

Flag Fen Archaeology Park, Cambridge
The site of a 3,500-year-old ritual causeway and ceremonial platform which has yielded one of the best collections of Bronze Age Celtic swords, jewellery and tools in the country, these 20 acres include a reconstructed Bronze Age roundhouse and landscape with free, volunteer-led guided tours.

Hull and East Riding Museum, Hull
The Bronze Age gallery include a spectacular display of exquisitely-crafted pottery beakers and food vessels as well as the magnificent swords, axes and daggers which were the luxury goods of those ancient times.

Grime's Graves Prehistoric Flint Mine, Norfolk
The only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in Britain, dug more than 5,000 years ago, during the later Neolithic and early Bronze Ages.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art531974-burnt-mound-discovered-by-archaeologist-on-dorset-cliff-could-have-been-used-in-bronze-age-ritual-feasts