Monument record MDO18414 - Poundbury Late Roman Funerary enclosure R4

Ditched Funerary Enclosure R4 was found in the northwestern corner of Late Roman enclosure 4, on Site A of the 1966-1979 excavations at Poundbury. It lay immediately to the east of two similar ditched funerary enclosures R5 and R6. It comprised a ditch enclosing a square area containing a single grave containing the extended inhumation burial of a 25-year-old male in a wooden coffin. There was some suggestion of a series of postholes along the length of the ditch.

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).

Ditched Funerary Enclosure R4 was found in the northwestern corner of Late Roman enclosure 4, on Site A. It lay immediately to the east of two similar ditched funerary enclosures R5 and R6. It comprised a flat-based ditch [A1] 0.9m wide and 0.4m deep, which enclosed a square area of about 14.5 square metres. The NE corner and most of the northern side of the enclosure was outside of the excavated area. The ditch was sectioned in two places and found to have two fills: an upper loamy soil and a lower deposit of closely packed chalk. Dark patches 0.15m in diameter and at 0.6m intervals visible on the surface of the ditch fill have been interpreted as postholes. A single extended inhumation burial of a 25-year-old male in a wooden coffin with no grave goods lay in grave [6], aligned roughly E-W,, was found within the enclosure (1).

<1> Farwell, D E and Molleson, T I, 1993, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1980. Volume II: The Cemeteries, 49-51 (Monograph). SDO9538.

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

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:26PM