Monument record MDO18392 - Poundbury Late Roman Cemetery, Site C

A Late Roman burial group was discovered during excavation on Site C at Poundbury, Dorchester, to the east of the main Late Roman cemetery. This cemetery appears to have been inserted in the SE corner of the late Roman enclosure 1. 101 late Roman graves were found, of which 91 were excavated. The burials were all supine extended inhumations in rectangular graves, aligned roughly E-W , in rather ragged rows. The majority of graves contained evidence for wooden coffins and one grave also had an inner lead lining. There was a much higher proportion of infant burials than found in the main late Roman cemetery. A relatively high proportion of grave goods was found, including pottery, coins, animal bone, glass beads, a copper alloy ring, iron knife, iron statuette and a bone pin. Hobnails were recovered from six graves. The Site C burial group appears to date from around the middle of the 4th century AD.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1979 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report and archive (1)(2).

To the east of the main late Roman cemetery excavated at Poundbury, a further 101 late Roman graves were found on Site C, of which 91 were excavated. The relationship with the main cemetery is not clear as the area between the two has not been excavated. However, no burials were found in the western extension to Site G, indicating that the burials did not extend as far as the main cemetery. The location of the burials and their orientation suggests that this cemetery may have been inserted into the SE corner of the late Roman enclosure 1. There was a gap of between 2.2-3.6m between the graves and the projected edges of the enclosure, suggesting that the original limits of this burial group to the east and possibly to the south have been found within the excavated area of Site C. The graves are generally oriented roughly E-W, aligned with the enclosure boundary ditches, in rather ragged rows. In the northern part of the cemetery, the graves appeared to be fitted within the shell of structure R14. To the east a large grave which contained a lead coffin [376] had a clear space about 0.9m wide around it. Only one N-S grave [435] was found on Site C.

The graves were generally rectangular in plan with rounded corners and vertical sides and contained extended single inhumation burials. Evidence for wooden coffins was found in 71 of the 91 graves excavated, where identifiable the wood was oak. All of the adult burials had coffins but 19 of the children under one year old had coffins and 13 didn’t. No stone coffins were found on site C but Grave [376], containing the burial of a 20-year-old male, had a wooden coffin with an inner lead lining.

The graves contained the skeletons of 13 adult males, 13 adult females, 32 children aged one year old or less, 15 aged between one and sixteen years, and 17 of unknown age and/or sex. 10 graves were unexcavated and two found to contain no evidence for a burial. The high number of burials of children of one year or less is notable, being a much higher proportion than found in the main late Roman cemetery. The skeletons were laid out in extended supine positions, with the arms either straight by the sides or flexed with the forearms laid diagonally across the lower abdomen. All heads were laid to the west with three exceptions.

This cemetery contained a relatively high proportion of grave goods., which were found in 13 of the 91 excavated graves, over three times greater than the main late-Roman cemetery. Hobnails were recovered from six graves (five adults and one four year old). Grave [429], in addition to hobnails, was accompanied by a chicken skeleton and a pottery vessel dating to post AD250 placed near the head. A pottery vessel dating from AD320-70 was recovered from grave [386], a child size grave with coffin nails but no body. In grave [1415] a cow jaw was place at the head of the skeleton and a cow sacrum at the foot. Grave [370] contained coffin nails, a coin of AD 260-268, but no body. A 12-year-old in grave [181] had a string of glass beads on the left upper arm and two copper alloy bracelets and a ring on the right shoulder. A 42-year-old man in grave [362] also had a copper alloy ring. A 20-year-old female in grave [338] had a bone hairpin and an iron knife by the left leg. An iron statuette was found by the right shoulder of burial [543].

The Site C burial group appears to date from around the middle of the 4th century AD. Several of the graves were cut through late Roman structures R12-R14, which appear to go out of use in the early 4th century. Nine graves contained late 3rd century coins and four graves contained grave goods datable to the 4th century.

<1> Farwell, D E and Molleson, T I, 1993, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1980. Volume II: The Cemeteries (Monograph). SDO9538.

<2> Sparey Green, C, 1966-1979, Poundbury, Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10096.

Record last edited

Jul 26 2010 6:58AM