Monument record MDO37218 - Iron Age 'Durotrigian' burial (7053) 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 a young female.

A grave cut into the fill of a small ditch on the western side of a cross dyke. The grave cut was 1.74m long, 0.78m wide and 0.17m deep, orientated NE-SW with the head to the north. The grave had been disturbed but two large stones found at the base of the skull and others within the fill indicated that it had been stone lined.

The skeleton was that of a young female between 18 and 25 years old. Examination of the bones, revealed no evidence of pathology, unusual for this site. The skeleton was in a crouched position on her right side, facing west, with one hand under the pelvis.

A complete necked jar with burnished ware decoration was placed near the head. A fossil shell also found in the grave may have been an offering, though these occur naturally. The filling of the grave contained 111 sherds of pottery, most Poole Harbour wares, including a late Iron Age bowl/lid with an expanded grooved rim, a type made from the mid-1st century BC. {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 3:52PM