Monument record MDO37220 - Early Iron Age pit with a later 'Durotrigian' burial (7526) on Southdown Ridge, Weymouth

One of a group of pits in an alignment on the crest of a ridge, and interpreted as forming the northern boundary of an early Iron Age settlement. This pit had a later Iron Age 'Durotrigian' style burial placed in it.

Pit 7526 was relatively large, being 1.50m in diameter and 1.30m deep with almost vertical sides. The bottom layer of the filling of the pit was a mixed accumulation of compacted redeposited natural yellowish clayey silt incorporating small quantities of occupation debris, probably the product of natural erosion as the pit lay open for a while. A number of large fragments of charcoal lay directly on the base of the pit. Pottery in this layer included a wide range of early Iron Age fabrics including the rim of a shouldered jar. Fragments of sheep/goat humerus were also present.

Above the primary fill of the pit was a layer of brownish-grey clayey silt with limestone fragments. A flake of black Portland chert and abraded pottery sherds in early Iron Age fragments, the mandible of a sheep/goat and cattle horn core were found in this dumped deposit.

On top of the dumped deposit was the complete skeleton (7538) of an adolescent of between 12½ and 13½ years old and of uncertain gender. The skeleton lay with legs flexed. Examination of the bones revealed evidence of cranial lesions which could indicate anaemia and deficiency of vitamins B9 and B12, and calculus on the teeth. Radiocarbon dating of the skeleton gave a middle Iron Age date. The excavators felt that the pit was cut and filled during the early Iron Age and that its fill had subsided significantly by the middle Iron Age to make a visible hollow which was a convenient location for a burial. {1}

<1> Brown, L, Hayden, C and Score, D, 2014, 'Down to Weymouth town by Ridgeway'. Prehistoric, Roman and later sites along the Weymouth Relief Road, 164-165 (Monograph). SDO14013.

Record last edited

Jun 29 2015 1:53PM