Monument record MDO37226 - Iron Age 'Durotrigian' burial (7264) on Southdown Ridge, Weymouth

An uncoffined inhumation burial recorded during excavations in 2008-2009 in advance of construction of the Weymouth Relief Road, one of nineteen excavated in the area of an Iron Age settlement. The crouched burial of a young man, inserted into an earlier grave.

A burial accommodated in an earlier grave (7294) recut to 1.61m long, 0.50m wide and 0.20m deep, and orientated north-south. Several large stones in the filling of the grave may have come from the underlying grave. The head of this skeleton was at the southern end of the grave, an opposite position to that of the original burial. The skeleton was that of a young male of between 18 and 25 years of age; a similar age to the first burial. The upper body was extended with the right hand by the pelvis, and the legs were tightly flexed. The upper body appeared to have slumped into a void left by the underlying decaying burial. Examination of the bones revealed evidence of vertebral disc problems, possible benign neoplastic disease and non-specific skull lesions. A fragment of an undecorated shale bracelet found in the filling may have been worn by the individual, but had been displaced by later activity. {1}

Record last edited

Jun 29 2015 11:09AM