Monument record MDO18072 - Infant burial within the Neolithic enclosure at Flagstones, Dorchester

Found within the probably circular enclosure partly revealed by excavation at Flagstones by Wessex Archaeology in 1987-1988 in advance of the construction of the Dorchester By-pass. The following description is abstracted from the final published report on the site (1). The numbers in square brackets refer to context numbers quoted in the report.

This burial is one of three primary burials were placed on the base of segments 16, 19, and 30 of the enclosure ditch. In the west terminal of segment 30 in the north was the crushed skeleton on a 6-12 month old child and the femur of a 3-5 year old. These were not under a slab but a large sarsen fragment was found one metre away. This stone measured 610x250x110mm across. It was broken up during excavation and a small part of it was retained in the archive.

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 78 NW 67 (Index). SDO9937.

Wessex Archaeology, 1987, Dorchester By-pass (Excavation archive). SDO9385.

Woodward, P J and Smith, R J C, 1987, Survey and excavation along the route of the Southern Dorchester By-pass, 1986-1987 – an interim note, 79-89 (Article in serial). SDO9381.

<1> Smith, R J C et al, 1997, Excavations along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986-8, 27-48 (Monograph). SDO9379.

Record last edited

Jan 14 2015 4:55PM