The first and second years were assembled in the area referred to as trench D to begin clearing back excess soil and debris to define the Roman buildings in this area. The third years remained near the ‘banjo’ entrance to excavate the ditch and also carefully uncovering one of the crouched burials.
Updates on the discovered skeletons are as follows; two of the three skeletal remains have been lifted from their resting place and stored in their temporary home of the ‘bones hut.’ While the other skeletal remains are still being recovered. There has also been two baby remains revealed which appear in the same context in a pit, thus suggesting they were placed to rest at the same time.
One of the adult skeletons has been presumed to be a late Iron Age burial and possibly dating to when the Romans impacted Britain. This individual still maintained a traditional crouched burial, where the body is placed in a foetal position on right side and facing north. It can be believed that the individual may have been in a state of decomposition due to the positioning of limbs into tightly compact burial bundles. Moreover, the deceased could have even been placed in a sack with a securing brooch at the opening; possibly account for a brooch pin being recovered behind the individual’s head. The burial also contained some form of food, e.g. lamb joint and a pottery vessel possibly containing a drink to be consumed during the journey into the afterlife.
There are no records of the Durotrigian tribe’s dynasties, but there are indications of custom or ritual practices. It has been suggested that the former active ‘banjo’ enclosure was seen as a sacred place to bury their dead alongside their ancestors, as it is a prominent feature within the landscape. So far on the site there have been seven cut grave and nine burials within storage pits.
Today, we were lucky that the rain held off until the last hour before we were scheduled to go home. Overall, it can be said that the site accomplished all the set tasks for the day and the rain didn’t dampen our spirits.
Day 12: Decorated 'cup' and broken copper alloy bracelet from the Roman bulding platforms, examining a skull, and cleaning a south Dorset crouched inhumation.