Monument record MDO18245 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Infant burial 1418

The disturbed remains of an infant burial in a shallow grave along the line of one of the walls of the early Roman post-built rectangular building 1604 was found in Trench 4, during the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester. This burial was one of three infant burials along this wall line and was probably a foundation deposit.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1989 in the proposed Wessex Court retail development area between Charles Street, Acland Road, and South Walks, Dorchester (1) (2) (3) (4). The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the report and archive (1) (2).

Infant burial 1418 was one of a line of three infant burials associated with timber building 1604, along the line of one of the walls. The inhumation was of a neonate laid in a crouched position with the head to the SE, in a roughly circular grave 0.3m across and 0.05m deep. The grave was cut into the natural chalk and was sealed by floor deposits associated with building 1605.

National Record of the Historic Environment, 1431039 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<1> Davies, S M and Farwell, D, 1989, Excavations at Charles Street (Wessex Court), Dorchester: Interim report on Stage 1, 25th May-3rd July and Stage 2, 25th July-12th September 1989 (Unpublished document). SDO9408.

<2> Adam, N J, Butterworth, C A, Davies, S M, and Farwell, D E, 1992, Excavations at Wessex Court , Charles Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1989 (Unpublished document). SDO9409.

<3> Davies, S M and Farwell, D E, 1989, 'Charles Street, Dorchester, Wessex Court Development', Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9414.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 1989-1990, Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO9878.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM