The first hint of a ring ditch emerged in 1972, when Martin Green noticed a faint, curving line in freshly ploughed soil on his Cranborne Chase farm in Dorset. Lying a mere 20m from the boundary of the great Dorset Cursus, the ring ditch was just another very small element of a vast ‘sacred landscape’ associated with the longest Cursus monument in England. This landscape comprised several hundred monuments dating to the Later Neolithic and Bronze Ages, which embellished the environs of the great spinal earthwork.
Thirty-five years later, the ring ditch appeared once more, this time on a 2007 geophysical survey undertaken by Bournemouth University students supervised by Paul Cheetham. This picked up faint traces of a ditch and a substantial central feature. As plough erosion was continuing, Martin decided to excavate the site in 2009. The results were completely unexpected.
Digging the ring ditch
Longstanding readers may well be familiar with Martin Green. He has spent several decades investigating archaeological features, many prehistoric in date, on his farm (CA 67 and 138). While many of the published explorations have focused on monuments, artefacts, and environmental evidence, with the help of staff and students at Bournemouth University Martin is now re-examining the human remains. The catalyst for this work was provided when Martin’s latest excavation revealed the remains of seven further individuals at the Canada Farm ring ditch, ranging in date from the Beaker period (c.2,500-1,700 BC) through to the Middle Bronze Age (c.1,500-1,150 BC).
Keeping your eye on the GOAL