SDO10079 - ‘Roman Britain in 1985: 1. Sites explored’ Britannia

Brief catalogue of archaeological works carried out on Roman sites in Britain during 1985. This includes a summary of discoveries in Dorchester, reproduced here in full: P417 (2) Fordington, Alington Avenue (SY 702076): a D-shaped Iron Age enclosure continued in being as indicated by the peripheral distribution of Late Roman burials. There were 4 cremations in Black-burnished jars and 50 extended inhumations, mostly in wooden coffins but one in a Ham-stone sarcophagus and one in a lead-lined coffin (both of them gypsum burials)l 30% had grave goods. One supine skeleton lacked the skull as did another which was accompanied by a dogl one decapitated body lay prone with the skull replaced supine; one prone burial with dog showed wounds, and one burial was that of a dwarf. There were traces of three buildings with stone footings; two were semi-basements, one with an entrance-ramp and oven. A Roman road, presumably from Dorchester to Purbeck, crossed the N edge of the site and a milestone of Postumus was found re-used in an oven.