Monument record MDO18080 - Flagstones enclosed cremation cemetery

This monument comprises a penannular ditch with a possible entrance to the south which enclosed three pits containing cremation burials. It lies in the southern part of the Flagstones Neolithic enclosure. Dated on form only to the Bronze Age.

Found during 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 monument comprises a shallow crescentic gully [00200] defining an area about 9m across, situated in the southern part of the Flagstones Neolithic enclosure. The southern part of ditch became shallower and had been completely eroded to the south. It is unclear if there was an entrance in this area or whether it was a complete ring-ditch. Finds from this ditch included 10 pieces of worked flint including a serrated blade, one sherd of Roman pottery (residual), a folded piece of copper alloy sheet and a fragment of animal bone.

Within the enclosure ditch were three pits [00260], [00256],and [00258], between 0.5-1.4m across and 0.1-0.2m deep. Each pit contained the remains of a single adult cremation burial.

This monument is not well-dated but its form suggests it may be Bronze Age in date.

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

Feb 8 2006 5:33AM