Site Event/Activity record ECH5728 - Archaeological Recording Work in association with Battle Area Clearance Operation, 1996

A manual plotting system was used to remove spent ordnance and disturbed archaeological material from the surface of Maiden Castle Hillfort. This involved the division of the site in to a grid of 27, 25m squares, each of which was searched and finds recovered to the nearest 1m. A metal detector was used throughout. 138 pieces of ordnance were recovered, 89 pieces of 'rubbish' and a single archaeological find, a small iron rock-splitting wedge with a burred-over hammer end, not unlike material recovered during Varley's 1934 - 1935 excavations (1). During the second half of the twentieth century the site was used for cadet training and as a firing range by 33 Engineer Regiment. A programme to clear ordnance from the area was undertaken in the mid-1990s using a mine detector and hand digging to clear debris to a depth of about 200mm; 138 pieces of ordnance were recovered from the site (2).