Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group

Community group, founded in 2012, researching, surveying and excavating the archaeology of West Dorset. Currently investigating Tumbledown in Weymouth.

[Tess Of The Vale @tessofthevale]

Ramparts, views and Holloways of Hambledon Hill

#dorset #hillforts #HillfortsWednesday

[Durotriges Project @Durotrigesdig]

Well done @DorsetMuseum for getting the necessary funds to save the #Dewlish mosaic !

Fantastic 😁😁

Antiquities *trade* aside (😠😡) at least we'll now be able to see this masterpiece when the museum reopens
https://t.co/ftvtzIdWmY

[Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group @DorsetDiggers]

Does anyone remember what sun and blue skies look like?
Visiting Maiden Castle on a hot summer day is always a nice treat and something to look forward too.
#HillfortsWednesday #Dorset #Archaeology

[Durotriges Project @Durotrigesdig]

OK, so we're not sure if this is (or will become) a *thing* 😀 but if it does, here's our 1st thread for #RomanFortThursday

This is Lake Farm a legionary fortress near #Wimborne #Dorset

Home to the Legio II Augusta and (almost certainly) the future emperor #Vespasian 👇👇

[mike bennett 🇺🇦 @TankieMike]

Views from Abbotsbury Castle Hill Fort on a grey Monday. Stunning views normally along the Fleet to Portland and over Lyme Bay #Dorset #hillfortswednesday

[Roger Lancefield (@spudger.bsky.social) @waxlithical]

Maumbury Rings #Roman amphitheatre in #Dorchester. Built on top of a Neolithic henge, probably by the Second Legion Augusta for use as a parade ground and practice arena. Later transferred from the army to the townspeople. (Really needed a wider lens to do it justice...)

[Roger Lancefield (@spudger.bsky.social) @waxlithical]

The last remaining section of the Dorchester Roman wall, now part of a garden wall (Albert Rd, Grade II Listed). The foundations and embankments of the original defences are scheduled monuments (See Magic Map screenshot), but this is the only surviving section of the wall itself.

[Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group @DorsetDiggers]

@OJS50 @AC_NavalHistory Well worth a visit, particularly when the sun is out!

[Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group @DorsetDiggers]

For our first ever post we thought we would start with something for #HillfortsWednesday
Down in West Dorset we have some fabulous examples and Maiden Castle near Dorchester seems a fitting way to kick off. Look at those ramparts! 😍

#Dorset #Archaeology

https://t.co/FDHQ2PIRwA

[Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group @DorsetDiggers]

@johnfbrowning37 I don’t know of any evidence/reconstructions (there may well be) but I believe it was shifted using woven baskets.
Generally earth dug out from the ditch was added to the bank so it wasn’t long distance. Surely some engineering involved in lifting it as the banks grew higher...

[Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group @DorsetDiggers]

Well Maiden Castle and #HillfortsWednesday certainly are popular (which is totally understandable!) - here’s some more photos of the wonderful ramparts from when the sun was high in the sky and the air was lovely and warm ☀️☀️☀️

[Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group @DorsetDiggers]

@eat2evolve1 @Trevorttg @Durotrigesdig Between approx. 800 BC–AD 43 several hundred Iron Age folk, of the Durotriges tribe (see @Durotrigesdig for lots of fascinating info) lived here, with the huge banks and ditches being constructed mostly from 100 BC onwards.
A good place to start is here: https://t.co/FDHQ2PIRwA