Monument record MDO2967 - Iron Age and Romano-British settlement on Whitcombe Hill, Whitcombe

An Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement. Iron Age burials were found with jewellery and weapons. Roman pits, ditches and building remains were found along with painted wall plaster 1st to 4th century pottery and three infant burials. A stone relief was found which may be a dedication to a Thraco-Danubian god.

Excavation of the site was carried out from 1963 to 1967. A rectangular building 27 ft by 22 ft, with a scatter of pottery (1st or 2nd to 4th century), roof tiles, limestone slabs and painted wall plaster, was uncovered at 71138807. Flint foundations with remains of an earth and chalk floor and three infant burials were found at 71118807. Three inhumation burials were discovered at 71008803. The later excavations in 1966-7 uncovered evidence of a native Durotrigian settlement of pre-Roman origin. Inhumation burials,pottery and various jewellery and weaons of that period were found. The stone relief, which depicts a bearded horseman, thought to be of Roman date, later 2nd or 3rd century, and may be either a tombstoneto an auxilary cavalryman or a dedication to a Thraco-Danubian hero-god. Coins suggest occupation of the site into the late 4th century at least. <1-7> A total of twelve inhumations in earth graves were located, eight of which were associated with Durotrigian grave goods; one young adult was buried in a full set of warrior equipment. <8> The nearly complete stone relief is of a horse and rider. The suggestion that it is a cavalryman's tombstone is doubtful because of the lack of evidence for a military presence in Dorset in the (2nd/3rd AD. It probably therefore represents a `Rider Gad' and may be Thracian in origin. <9>

Record last edited

Oct 25 2023 4:35PM