Monument record MDO37213 - Iron Age 'Durotrigian' burial (7624) on Southdown Ridge, Weymouth

An uncoffined inhumation burial recorded during excavations in 2008-2009 in advance of construction of the Weymouth Relief Road, one of nineteen excavated in the area of an Iron Age settlement. The crouched burial of an adult female in poor health.

A grave cut 1.46m long, 0.72m wide and 0.12m deep, orientated NNE-SSW with a filling of dark reddish mottled clayey silt with fragments of limestone. The head of the skeleton was at the northern end, which had been disturbed by animals. The grave cut across the gully next to the path of the (by then) demolished building complex, and was partly sealed by stone spread.

The skeleton was an adult female between 36-45 years old, lying flexed on her right side and facing east with legs bent at right angles to the spine and arms tucked against the chest with the left hand over the jaw and the right hand next to the face. Examination of the bones revealed evidence of a possible poor diet and anaemia, osteoarthritis, dental caries and plaque.

Three complete pottery vessels accompanied this burial, all placed near the head. The vessel forms are comparable with the late 1st century BC ‘war cemetery’ assemblage found at Maiden Castle, and two of the pots had distinct vertical ribs. A number of animal bones were found in the grave, including a group of vertebrae, a cattle femur and a sheep femur with clear butchery marks. These may represent food offerings or the remains of a funeral feast. {1}

<1> Brown, L, Hayden, C and Score, D, 2014, 'Down to Weymouth town by Ridgeway'. Prehistoric, Roman and later sites along the Weymouth Relief Road, 187 (Monograph). SDO14013.

Record last edited

Jul 20 2021 3:51PM