Monument record MDO18039 - Maiden Castle Road grave 02213

A 4th century AD grave oriented E-W, within the Maiden Castle Road Roman cemetery. It contained the remains of an extended inhumation of a 4-5 year old child, with the head to the east. No grave goods.

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 [02218] and [02331]. It contained an extended inhumation of a child aged 5-6 years, with the head to the east. No grave goods were found.

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 8:06PM