Monument record MDO18071 - Burial of infant within the Neolithic enclosure at Flagstones, Dorchester

An inhumation of a 2-3 year old child on the base of segment 19 of the Flagstones enclosure ditch. A large slab of calcareous sandstone was found above the burial. A radiocarbon date of 3490-2930 cal BC was obtained from this burial.

Found within the probably circular enclosure partly revealed by excavation at Flagstones by Wessex Archaeology in 1987-1988 in advance of the construction of the Dorchester By-pass. 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.

This burial is one of three primary burials were placed on the base of segments 16, 19, and 30 of the enclosure ditch. At the base of segment 19 were the remains of a 2-3 year old child inhumation found as a 'jumble of bones'. A large slab of calcareous sandstone was found 300mm above this burial. A radiocarbon date of 3490-2930 cal BC at 2 sigma (HAR-9158) was obtained on bone from this burial.

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 78 NW 67 (Index). SDO9937.

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, 27-48 (Monograph). SDO9379.

Record last edited

Jan 14 2015 4:55PM