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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