A Romano-British Cemetery on Watling Street: Excavations at 165 Great Dover Street, Southwark, London

Abstract

Excavations in 1996-7 at Great Dover Street, Southwark, uncovered evidence of a Roman roadside cemetery on Watling Street, south-east of the settlement. The cemetery was established in the mid 2nd century, replacing a roadside building and contemporary field system, and has yielded the largest number of Roman burials (twenty-five inhumations and five cremations) yet discovered on one site in Southwark. With two walled cemeteries, a mausoleum, and a possible temple-mausoleum, the site is an important addition to the study of Roman London. Moulded cornices and the head of a god or river deity were also found. A bustum within the cemetery area contained the cremated remains of a female with at least nine pottery tazze, eight pottery lamps, and an exceptional array of plant remains, many imported from the Mediterranean, including stone pine, white almond and date fruit. Images on the lamps included the Egyptian god Anubis, and a fallen gladiator. The funerary structures fell into disrepair by the late 3rd century, although there was some evidence that the area may have continued as an unenclosed cemetery.