An island of finds

Iron-Age bracelets
Archaeologists from Bournemouth University, under the direction of Dr Eileen Wilkes, have been investigating Green Island, in Poole Harbour, Dorset, for some time. Their system of excavating, using a distribution of test pits across the area, has uncovered evidence suggesting this was an important centre for both the production and distribution of artefacts during the Iron Age. Among them were the waste cores from the production of shale bracelets. Time Team was called in to discover more about these finds and the past of this beautiful island.

Carefully does it
Green Island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its delicate ecology. So Time Team had to work with extra care in order that the ground could be reconstituted after the dig. Two main areas of excavation were highlighted first based on earlier results and the latest geophysics. The aim was to find evidence of settlement and the shale bracelet manufacture.

Sands of time
Phil's trench on the western side of the island uncovered an indication of structures, including linear stonewalling. It proved difficult to establish if this was part of a building, however. Another theory was that the stones were part of some landscape terracing.

Human bone and a shale core were also discovered in relation to this feature. The bone was the first to be found on the island – its preservation is unusual because the island appears to be made almost entirely of sand, and bone does not survive well in the acid conditions.

Iron works
Excavations by Dr Miles Russell on the eastern side of the island uncovered scatters of iron-working slag and the base of an Iron-Age furnace. Shale cores in the trench helped to date the feature to the first century AD. Meanwhile, another small trench excavated nearby by Matt Williams uncovered some ditches, which could possibly define working areas.

In the course of the three days this intriguing island offered up literally thousands of finds and evidence of both settlement and manufacture. The range of finds both here and elsewhere in Poole Harbour point towards the area having been an important trading centre from the Iron Age to the fourth century AD.

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