ANALYSES OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOILS AND SEDIMENTS AT MAIDEN CASTLE, DORCHESTER, DORSET.
Author(s): R I Macphail
A pedological and micropedological (27 thin sections) study of the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age soils and sediments at Maiden Castle was carried out. There was a non-calcareous brown earth soil cover in the mid-Holocene which was altered by Neolithic activities, specifically woodland clearance and cultivation. Cultivation continued intermittently into the Bronze Age alongside domestic occupation. The Holocene soil was eroded, increasingly exposing the Pleistocene palaeosol and chalk in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. A second stable phase of soil formation probably preceded the Early Iron Age fort. Iron Age occupation led to the accumulation of midden deposits. This report is supported by 3 figures, 8 tables and 69 colour plates.
- Report Number:
- 36/1989
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 113
- Keywords:
- Soil/Sediment
