EVERYTHING from a stone coffin to gold and silver coins have been discovered in Dorset during the past year.

The largest excavation in the county for a number of years took place at Poundbury, Dorchester.

The county's senior archaeologist Steve Wallis explained that the star find was a Roman stone coffin.

He said: "We think it could be 200AD-300AD and it was major find.

"We would expect to come across such coffins near graveyards round Roman towns such as Dorchester, but this one is surprising because it was a more rural location.

Other excavations, also in Dorchester, have turned up more important finds.

Mr Wallis said: "One dig at Little Keep found a lot of Roman burials. Most were buried on their own because they were from late in the Roman period when the population included many Christians who didn't believe in burying goods with the dead.

"Another dig in Charles Street, Dorchester, sunk some trial trenches ahead of the proposed redevelopment of the car park there with shops and homes.

"Finds there included ancient yard surfaces, pottery and wall remains and a number of coins."

Elsewhere the Mappowder-Portland gas pipeline proposals led to archaeological trial work which uncovered various items.

Mr Wallis said: "Perhaps the most important was a Roman pottery kiln just outside Dorchester which yielded hundreds of pottery shards from a dig run by Wessex Archaeology."

At Forston near Cerne Abbas Wessex Water was putting in some new treatment works, and archaeological work ahead of that found a large Roman rubbish pit.

Mr Wallis said: "It had a lot of pottery in it as well as other things such as roof tiles.

"They are interesting because they suggest that there was a building nearby which we haven't found yet, although there is a record from about a century ago of a Roman villa being excavated in the next field."

Portland has also produced finds, notably a stone industry spoil tip from the Victorian era.

Mr Wallis said: "That has produced sleepers from when a railway was used to carry stone."

Further afield, the remains of a Middle Age salt extraction industry has been discovered near Wareham.

Mr Wallis said: "What they used to do was put the salt water from Poole Harbour into large clay pans over fires and evaporate the water off to leave the salt behind.

"It has certainly been a fascinating and rewarding year. One of the great things about Dorset is the wide variety of its archaeology and 2007 showed this to perfection."