Monument record MDO18047 - Maiden Castle Road grave 02230

A 4th century AD grave oriented E-W, within the Maiden Castle Road Roman cemetery. It contained the extended inhumation a female 17-25 years, with the head to the east. It was accompanied by the skull and mandibles, axis and atlas of a juvenile sheep. Hobnails were also present in the grave.

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 [02230] aligned E-W on the line of the northern limit of the cemetery. It cut the eastern end of grave [02228] and its southeastern part was cut by grave [02232]. It contained an extended inhumation of a female aged 17-25, with head to east. This burial was accompanied by the skull and mandibles, axis and atlas of a juvenile sheep. Thirty-six hobnails were also recovered.

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 8:11PM