Monument record MDO18041 - Maiden Castle Road grave 02350

A 4th century AD grave oriented E-W, within the Maiden Castle Road Roman cemetery. It contained the remains of an extended inhumation accompanied by a late 4th century New Forest red-slipped ware bowl above the head.

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. It lies immediately south of grave [02331] and was cut by (or cut???) *** relationship not clear from report**** graves [02320] and [02235]. It contained an extended inhumation of a female aged 18-19 with head to east. A New Forest red-slipped ware bowl dated to c. AD345-380 was placed above the head. 71 hobnails were found in the grave.

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 8:08PM