The Shearplace Hill Enclosure is an archaeological site of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, about south-west of

Cerne Abbas Cerne Abbas () is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Dorset Council administrative area in the Cerne Valley in the Dorset Downs. The village lies just east of the A352 road north of Dor ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, England. It is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Description

It is a Martin Down style enclosure, named after the Bronze Age enclosure on Martin Down in Hampshire. Sites of this type, interpreted as domestic settlements, have mostly been found on

downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

of central southern England, usually situated on hillsides. The site, covering about , is on a north facing slope of Shearplace Hill, which overlooks to the west the valley of Sydling Water. There is a series of banks, height up to , and sunken trackways up to deep. There was excavation in 1958 by

Philip Rahtz Philip Arthur Rahtz (11 March 1921 – 2 June 2011) was a British archaeologist. Rahtz was born in Bristol. After leaving Bristol Grammar School, he became an accountant before serving with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. D ...

. He established that there was a farmstead of several enclosures, the principal enclosure containing two round houses; and that it was occupied from the Middle to Late Bronze Age, when it was abandoned. Finds included pottery of the

Deverel–Rimbury culture The Deverel–Rimbury culture was a name given to an archaeological culture of the British Middle Bronze Age in southern England. It is named after two barrow sites in Dorset and dates to between ''c''. 1600 BC and 1100 BC. It is characterise ...

, loom weights, flint scrapers and animal bones.

References

{{Reflist Scheduled monuments in Dorset Bronze Age sites in Dorset Archaeological sites in Dorset