Monument record MDO18605 - Colliton Park, Dorchester; Infant burial 1

An infant burial, containing the remains of two infants, was found in a shallow grave cut into the floor at the southeast corner of Room 3 of the Roman Town House, Building I, at Colliton Park, Dorchester.

Infant Burial 1 was one of a number found associated with the Roman Town House, Building I, at Colliton Park during excavations in 1937-8. It was found in the southeast corner of Room 3 in the South Range in a scoop in the floor , apparently dug at a late stage in the life of the building (1).

The remains of two separate infants were recovered from this scoop (2), though only one was recognised during excavation. One was the skeleton of an at-term foetus and was either a still birth or peri-natal death. The only recognisable bone from the second infant was a fragment of left femur only. Some bird bones were apparently also found in association (1).

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 69 SE 24 (Index). SDO9937.

Drew, C D, and Collingwood Selby, K C, 1937, First Interim report on the Excavations at Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-1938. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 59, 1-14 (Article in serial). SDO9764.

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1937-1938, Colliton Park, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10066.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 572 (Monograph). SDO149.

‘(215) … (c) Inhumations, five, of infants mostly in shallow holes in the floors of building (182), Colliton Park (Fig. p. 556). One was under the eaves of the N. wall of room 15, an extension dated after c. 341; one was in room 3, two in room 5, and one in room 6, of the service wing; they are therefore all of the 4th century. No objects were found other than bird bones with the infant in room 3, and a sherd of amphora with one in room 5. (Dorset Procs. LIX (1937), 11–12; site notebook I, in D.C.M.)’

<2> Firth, J, 1992, Report on the Infant Burials from Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO10067.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:30PM