Monument record MWX397 - Inhumations, The Verne, Portland

Inhumations, pottery and other material found in a natural fissure in one of the Government quarries on the Verne at Portland circa 1891. The human remains comprised parts of a man, a woman and two young people. Animal remains included the tusk of a wild boar, dog or fox and vole bones. Some potsherds were also found, and have been identified as Peterborough Ware, suggesting a possible Neolithic date for the deposit as a whole. Some chert flakes may also have been present. It has been suggested that the interments were originally near the surface over an incipient fissure, and subsequently fell in. However, prehistoric burial in a natural feature such as a fissure or crevice is hardly unknown.

(MARGINAL) An interment was found in a natural fissure in one of the Government quarries on the VERNE at PORTLAND. It appears to have been some distance beneath the surface, at the junction of Whit-bed and Roach stratas. The human remains consisted of the portions of a man, a woman, and two young people, and animal remains, the tusk of a wild boar, parts of a dog or fox, and field-vole. Above the remains was a layer of stalagmite 1 1/2 inches thick. Some fragments of pottery were also found; 2 fragments of a coarse badly fired vessel, and some of another of finer texture. It seems likely that the interment was originally near the surface over an incipient fissure, and that the material slipped down the fissure, removing the stalagmite from a position on the walls of the cleft during the filling-up process. (1)

The site may have been inside the VERNE (centred at SY 66207365) or in the quarry (centred at SY 69797304) as judged by the date of quarrying. (2)

No further information was obtained upon this site. The first of the two sites mentioned in T2 is covered by H M Prison and the other site is quarried out. There was no trace of antiquity or surface finds. (3)

<1> Mansel-Pleydell, J C, 1892, An Ancient Interment on the Verne, Portland, p232-238 (Article in serial). SWX2071.

<2> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F2 JR 03-JUN-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<2.1> Sansome, 1955, Oral: Mr Sansome 3.6.55 Manager Bath and Portland stone Firms (Verbal communication). SWX1998.

<3> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F2 JR 08-JUN-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451759 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 1 2024 7:01PM