Monument record MDO18038 - Maiden Castle Road grave 02218

A 4th century AD grave oriented E-W, within the Maiden Castle Road Roman cemetery. It contained the remains of a decapitated adult female and the disarticulated remains of a second adult inhumation.

Found during the excavations to the north of Maiden Castle Road undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1987 in advance of the Dorchester By-pass construction. The following description is abstracted from the final published report on the site (1). The numbers in square brackets refer to context numbers quoted in the report.

Rectangular grave cut aligned E-W on the line of the northern limit of the cemetery, between graves [52011] and [02213]. It contained a decapitated adult female extended inhumation and the disarticulated remains of a second adult individual. The decapitated skull was at the west end of the grave and the rest of the body was at the east end with the 'head' to the east. It appears that the second, decapitated, burial disturbed the original primary inhumation. It was suggested by the excavators that this may represent interments from the same family group.

No dating evidence was recovered from this grave, which has been dated to the 4th century AD on the basis of its association with other burials of this date within the cemetery.

National Record of the Historic Environment, 983909 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Wessex Archaeology, 1987, Dorchester By-pass (Excavation archive). SDO9385.

Woodward, P J and Smith, R J C, 1987, Survey and excavation along the route of the Southern Dorchester By-pass, 1986-1987 – an interim note, 79-89 (Article in serial). SDO9381.

<1> Smith, R J C et al, 1997, Excavations along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986-8, 56-70 (Monograph). SDO9379.

Record last edited

Dec 6 2023 8:05PM