Monument record MDO37223 - Iron Age 'Durotrigian' burial (7273) 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 woman.

An oval grave cut through the fill of a ditch. The cut of the grave was 1.56m long, 0.77m wide and 0.08m deep, and was aligned north-south with the head to the north. The filling of the grave was a greyish clayey silt and contained a mix of early and late Iron Age pottery.

The skeleton was that of a female of 26 to 35 years of age, in a tightly crouched position with knees flexed to the left and hands under the right leg. Examination of the bones revealed evidence of degenerative disease in the spine, disc herniation, child-bearing scars, periostitis and dental caries. The left arm was smaller than the right.

A fragment of cattle skull and other animal bones were found in the grave but were thought not to have been grave goods. {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, 189-190 (Monograph). SDO14013.

Record last edited

Jun 29 2015 11:09AM