Monument record MDO18525 - Alington Avenue; Bronze Age Inhumation 127

Evidence for a Bronze Age inhumation was discovered during excavations at Alington Avenue in the SW corner of the main site. It comprised the burial of a male, aged 25-35 years, laid on his back with the knees and hands drawn up tightly under the chin, and the head to the west, on the south side of ditch [1600]. This is one of three similar graves cut through the secondary fill of the eastern part of the Bronze Age double ring-ditch.

Found during a series of evaluations and excavations conducted by Wessex Archaeology at Alington Avenue, Fordington, Dorchester between 1984 and 1987. The results of the excavations have been published as a Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph; (DNHAS Monograph 15). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report.

Three inhumation burials [127], [1582] & [3907] were associated with ditch [1600] the eastern section of the Bronze Age double ring ditch in the SW corner of the main site. They were all tightly crouched, one in the northern terminal, one on the east side, and one on the south. All three burials lay on the base of the ditch, or on a thin layer of chalk rubble, and all were aligned with the ditch. The burials were deposited after the formation of the secondary fill layers, and cut through those layers. The lack of similar burials in ditch [2350] may be because less of that ditch was examined rather than reflect a true absence. These burials are secondary in nature to the main double ring barrow.

Grave 127, on the south side of ditch [1600] contained the burial of a male, aged 25-35 years, laid on his back with the knees and hands drawn up tightly under the chin, and the head to the west. The cut of the grave was not identified. The extremely tightly crouched position of the skeleton suggests that the body may have been bound or trussed before burial. The only finds associated with this burial were a small number of flint flakes, though these are probably unlikely to be grave goods.

A femur from this burial produced a date of 2580-1920 cal BC.

<1> Davies, S M, Bellamy, P S , Heaton, M J , and Woodward, P J, 2002, Excavations at Alington Avenue, Fordington, Dorchester, Dorset, 1984-87 (Monograph). SDO9565.

Record last edited

Aug 29 2024 12:33PM