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The whole Isle of Portland has the rare distinction of being regarded as a place of ‘high archaeological potential’. A recent survey of finds made there since the 19th century, has indicated that items from almost every period of the past have been found all over the island.
Portland was first inhabited by hunters and gatherers at about 14,000 to 12,000 years ago. This was towards the end of a glacial epoch when mammoths, reindeer and other extinct animals walked on Portland. Remains of these animals have been found at the Verne and also in the Reforne area.
Their tools have been found mixed in with tools of later periods in clay deposits at the Verne and the Bill.
The first people to have actually settled on the Isle were people of the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age period) of about 8,300 years ago and two of their sites have been excavated at the Bill. The Culverwell site, just east of the well known by that name, is the earliest known site in England where extensive use has been made of Portland limestone to create a living floor. Other features on the site, e.g. a shell midden, hearths and cooking pits suggest a settled living pattern, probably all the year round. Part of the site has been preserved in situ and can be visited during the summer and at other times by contacting
The Association for Portland Archaeology (01305-861576).
The presence of people of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, between 5,500 and 3,000 years ago is indicated by finds of polished axes and neatly crafted arrowheads. The stone for some of these tools came from as far away as Cornwall.
A cemetery containing approximately 200 burials of the Bronze Age is known to have existed south of Weston Street, unfortunately destroyed by quarrying. Vast quantities of items from the Iron Age and Roman periods have been found all over the Island, but particularly in the Verne area, where a hill fort once existed. Stone coffins, pottery and other tools from these periods can be seen in Portland Museum.
The rest of the Royal Manor of Portland's history is well documented, with the oldest references to the Isle in Anglo -Saxon Charters and Domesday Book. Remains of the post-Roman periods can be seen on the island in the form of medieval field systems, St Andrews Church, Rufus Castle and Portland Castle built by King Henry VIII.
Ref. Susann Palmer. "Ancient Portland" (1998).
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