Attitudes to Disposal of the Dead - Gazetteer Query Form

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Site name Spettisbury Rings, Crawford Castle
Site number 1308
Burial codes 1002 1005 1021 1023 1025 1028 1030 1035 1042 1047 1051 1065 1075 1084 1092 1098 1104 1111 1121 1122 1123 1128 1129 1143 1153 1172 1181 1182
100bc-AD43 A mass grave in the internal ditch of this univallate hill fort (occupied c150BC-50AD) contained 80-90 skeletons laid out irregularly (found in 1857) and upwards of another 40 with no precise detail (1858). One skull had a sword injury, and another had a Roman spearhead lodged in it. The majority of the preserved material objects associated with the skeletons indicates a mid-1st Century incident involving Roman forces.

The material includes: 2 fibulae, one of La Tene II and one of La Tene III form, 2 decorated sword chapes (Piggott Group II), a fragmentary scabbard binding (Roman), 3 spiral rings and a hammered cauldron [all bronze and with Glastonbury Lake Village similarities]; 9 native spearheads, a ploughshare, 2 knives, a pair of shears, a circular disc, a bucket handle, 2 keys, sword blades (one of Piggott Group II), 4 complete and one fragmentary currency bars, 4 Roman javelin heads [all iron]; a weaving comb, 5 needles, 10 pins with decorative heads and an object of unknown use [all bone]; and a single sherd of a hand-made bowl.
Remains/Period Y1
County Dorset
Region S
National grid square ST
X coordinate 915
Y coordinate 20
Bibliographic source Gresham 1939, Whimster 1981


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Last updated: Tues Aug 10 2004