EDO4456 - Olga Road, Dorchester; excavation before 1899

Mosaic pavements were discovered in 1899 at the rear of 21 Olga Road (formerly 9 Olga Road) during the construction of the houses there. The floors were found at a depth of 2ft and their situation, 400yds from the SW corner of the Roman town, suggests they belong to a villa rather than a town house. The layout suggests three intercommunicating rooms on an axis of nearly N-S. Partition walls were robbed to below floor level. The floor was lifted by the owner and sold, then subsequently donated to Dorchester County Museum where they were relaid [1]. Evidence for inhumations and cremations was also found. 'some large flat stones, such as were used for sepulchral purposes…three cinerary urns of black unglazed ware…filled with calcined bones' and also unburnt human bones '…togther with decayed horns of some animals' were found on the east side of the building at a spot 'over which the tesselation in all likelihood originally extended' [2].