Monument record MDO18092 - Maumbury Rings Roman burial

An adult male flexed inhumation was found in the north entrance ramp of Maumbury Rings amphitheatre. It was accompanied by a small jar of possible 2nd century AD date. This burial is clearly later than the first phases of the amphitheatre, and perhaps is best considered as part of the adjacent Roman cemetery along the side of the Roman road to Weymouth.

This is one of two inhumation burials found on the northern entrance ramp of the Roman amphitheatre during the excavations directed by H St George Gray in 1910.

An adult male inhumation was found in the chalk filling 0.3m above the bottom of the north entrance ramp of Maumbury Rings amphitheatre. No grave cut was recognised. The skeleton was aligned N-S and lay on its left side, flexed at the knees and elbows and its hands crossed. The skull was crushed. It was associated with one pot and 69 flint flakes. (1) The pot is a small jar of possible 2nd century AD date (similar to Greyhound Yard Type 8 jar dated from 1st to 3rd century AD) and is illustrated in the Royal Commission inventory p579 no. 39 (DCM Acc No. 1908.29.19) (2)

This burial is clearly later than the first phases of the amphitheatre, and perhaps is best considered as part of the Roman cemetery along the side of the Roman road to Weymouth, of which further burials have been found just to the north beneath the Police Station.(2)

Pope, A, 1900, An Ancient British Trackway, 105-110 (Article in serial). SDO9398.

Gray, H St George, 1908-1913, Maumbury Rings excavation archive (Excavation archive). SDO9419.

Bradley, R, 1976, Maumbury Rings, Dorchester: The Excavations of 1908-1913, 1-97 (Article in serial). SDO9387.

<1> Gray, H St George, 1910, Interim report on the Excavations at Maumbury Rings, Dorchester, 1910, 238-241 (Article in serial). SDO9390.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 579 (Monograph). SDO150.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:26PM