Monument record MDO18512 - Southfield House, Dorchester; Roman grave 068

Roman grave 068 was one of two graves found cut into an L-shaped ditch pre-dating the Roman town defences during evaluation excavation by Wessex Archaeology at Southfield House, Dorchester in 1987. It was aligned ESE-WNW and contained an extended adult burial. The presence of coffin nails suggest the burial was in a wooden coffin. No grave goods were present.

Grave 068 was one of several possible Roman graves found during evaluation excavation by Wessex Archaeology at Southfield House, Dorchester in 1987. It was a shallow subrectangular grave aligned roughly ESE-WNW, cut 0.25m deep into the top of an L-shaped ditch of 2nd century AD date. This grave contained a single extended burial of an adult aged c. 25 years, with the head to the east, the arms by the side and the legs crossed. The presence of coffin nails suggest the burial was in a wooden coffin. No grave goods were present.

This grave was excavated but the skeleton was not lifted.

<1> Davies, S M and Thompson, C N, 1987, Archaeological Evaluation at Southfield House, Dorchester (Unpublished document). SDO9489.

<2> Davies, S M and Thompson, C N, 1987, Archaeological Evaluation at Southfield House, Dorchester, Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 126-129 (Article in serial). SDO9490.

<3> Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1987, Southfield House, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10060.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1430939 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:29PM