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INVESTIGATION OF THE WHITESHEET DOWN ENVIRONS 1989-90 151 
Table 1. Whitesheet Hill: Radiocarbon results 
Location Material Lab No Result BP ci3 %o calibrated range 95% 
enclosure ditch 
base of ditch recut (1328) pig scapula BM-2783 5020+150 -19.5 4250-3350 
primary fill (1354) pig radius + femur BM-2784  4800+70 -19.3 3710-3370 
primary fill (1354) cow lower limb BM-2785 4820+50 -21.3 3710-3380 
interior pits 
Pit 1295, basal fill (1322) pig long bones BM-2821 4750+90 -20.6 3720-3330 
Pit 1295, basal fill (1322) hazelnuts BM-2823 4740+35 est -25 3640-3370 
Pit 1303, fill 1346 hazelnuts BM-2822 4790+50 -23.9 3690-2270 
Calibrated using OxCal ver 2.15 
other from cattle, provided determinations of 
4800+70 BP (BM-2784) and 4820+50 BP (BM- 
2785) respectively. Two large pieces of gabbroic 
pottery were recovered from the basal fill (1354) 
along with other sherds of earlier Neolithic date. 
The secondary fill was a much more compact 
layer (1334). A considerable amount of worked flint 
was recovered and a small deposit of burnt material 
(1351) was contained within it. This material 
comprised burnt chalk along with some ash, burnt 
flint and burnt bone and represents a dump of 
material into the partially filled ditch rather than 
an episode of im situ burning. A thin greyish layer 
(1333) served to indicate a gradual change from the 
compact secondary fill (1334) below to a darker 
brown soil above (1327). 
The ditch fill sequence was truncated by a recut 
at least 0.75m deep and c. 3.1m wide at the surface. 
This recut had a broad V-shaped profile although 
the sides were quite irregular and _ varied 
considerably within the excavated section. An 
homogeneous lower fill of stony dark silty loam 
(1328) contained a single sherd of Mortlake-style 
Peterborough ware and a pig bone provided a 
radiocarbon determination of 5020+150 BP (BM- 
2783). This fill was sealed by a thin, slightly lighter- 
coloured deposit (1320) containing a substantial 
quantity of large flint nodules, which formed the 
lower horizon of a stabilisation or soil. The upper 
part of the this soil was a very distinct layer of 
compact dark silty loam with well-developed small 
blocky structure (1319). 
The bank 
This is still visible on the interior side of the ditch 
around much of the enclosure circuit but it is no 
| longer extant adjacent to the excavated ditch 
section, presumably as a result of the long use of the 
coach road. No ancient land surface was present, 
although a distinct linear band of unweathered 
chalk 3m wide adjacent to and parallel with the 
inner edge of the ditch (Figure 3) provided 
evidence for the position of the bank. 
The interior 
The strip across the interior of the enclosure was 
120m long but the nine features or groups of 
features were within the central 60m (Figure 3). All 
of these were totally excavated and in each case the 
whole fill sequence was retained and subsequently 
sieved in order to maximise artefact recovery. It was 
a surprise that features existed along the heavily 
eroded route of the trackway, and those that survive 
must originally have been considerably deeper. The 
track had removed at least the upper 0.5m of some 
features (see Figure 8, section of pit 1291). 
A number of solution pipes and features were 
recognised, some with cylindrical smooth-sided 
shafts penetrating the chalk below features. All 
contained a clean dark reddish-brown clay with 
occasional manganese nodules. On excavation these 
appeared to be postholes within the pit, though 
they could not be clearly defined within the general 
feature fills, and at least one feature also contained 
several large stones, interpreted at the time as 
packing stones. A number of pits revealed 
complicated indurated bases where they had cut 
into solution features. 
Pit 1303 (Figure 6) was a sub-rectangular pit 
1.1m long, 0.8m wide and 0.5m deep, with irregular, 
slightly undercut sides and a flat base. The basal fill 
(1346) contained a considerable quantity of 
charcoal and burnt flint along with more than a 
hundred sherds of pottery of earlier Neolithic date. 
Carbonised hazelnuts from this deposit provided a 
radiocarbon determination of 4790+50 BP (BM- 
2822). There was no indication on the sides or base 
of the pit of in situ burning and it is assumed that 
the deposit represents a dump of burnt material 
that originated elsewhere. 
