  We present high resolution spectroscopic observations of two neighbouring
damped Lya systems (DLAs) along the same line of sight towards B2314-409. Due
to their separation (v ~ 2000 km/s) and the high spectral resolution of the
data, it is possible to fit not only the weak metal transitions, but also the
separate HI absorption profiles. This has permitted, for the first time, a
detailed study of metal abundances in two neighbouring galaxy-scale absorbers.
The two DLAs have z_abs = 1.8573 and 1.8745 and have column densities log N(HI)
= 20.9+/-0.1 and 20.1+/-0.2 respectively. We have determined abundances for a
range of chemical elements, and find that BOTH absorbers towards B2314-409 have
low alpha/Fe-peak abundances compared with other known DLAs. This indicates
that not only has the recent star formation history of these absorbers been
relatively passive, but that the group environment, or some other external
factor, may have influenced this.
