A Romano-British cemetery on Watling Street: excavations at 165 Great Dover Street, Southwark, London

2000

A roadside cemetery lay alongside Watling Street 1km south-east of the Roman settlement of Southwark. The cemetery supplanted 1st-century roadside building and field systems, and was in use from the mid 2nd century until at least the early 3rd century. A total of 25 inhumations and five cremations were recorded. High-status mausolea and other burial structures may be indicative of private plots used by wealthy families. A possible temple was recorded, as was important evidence for funerary rites. A bustum 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; images on the lamps include Anubis and a gladiator. Catalogue of burials and associated finds.

Archaeology Studies Series 4