Monument record MDO19189 - Albert Road, Dorchester; Roman grave 42

Grave 42 was one of a number of Roman graves revealed during an excavation by Wessex Archaeology in the garden of 8 Albert Road, Dorchester in 1986. The grave was aligned roughly N-S and contained the badly disturbed upper half of an extended adult inhumation, with the head to the south with the head to the south, with coffin nails positioned around the body indicating the former presence of a wooden coffin. It cut through the earlier graves (Graves 59 and 56). The grave probably dates to the late 3rd or 4th century AD.

Grave 42 was one of a number of Roman graves revealed during an excavation by Wessex Archaeology in the garden of 8 Albert Road, Dorchester in 1986 (1)(2). The grave was aligned N-S and contained the badly disturbed upper half of an extended adult inhumation, with the head to the south, with coffin nails positioned around the body indicating the former presence of a wooden coffin. This grave cut the earlier graves 59 and 56. Grave 42 was one of four graves (together with Graves 48, 93, and 102) on a similar orientation, which appear to be the latest graves in this part of the cemetery. The precise date of the burial is not known, but it cuts through a deposit containing mid-late 3rd century material, suggesting a late 3rd or 4th century date for the grave.

Record last edited

Mar 8 2007 3:29AM