A late Roman Cemetery at Little Keep, Dorchester, Dorset

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology undertook the excavation of a site on land adjacent to the Little Keep building, Dorchester. An archaeological evaluation had established the position of some 1860s barrack buildings and also revealed the remains of two inhumation burials (Wessex Archaeology 2007b). During the excavation, a small quantity of residual prehistoric flintwork and pottery of Roman and later date was recovered, however the key discovery was part of a late Roman cemetery, comprising the remains of 29 inhumation burials, a mortuary enclosure and parts of a boundary gully. A small assemblage of grave goods and evidence for grave furniture were recovered together with well preserved human remains. Particularly interesting mortuary rituals such as decapitation and prone positioning were recorded with unusual frequency within the cemetery. The cemetery is described and compared to other cemeteries of similar date in the vicinity and in a wider setting, and its significance is discussed.