Research Notes - Prehistoric

laurence hayes, tim malim and thomas wellicome

late prehistoric enclosures at folkestone cricket club ground

A programme of archaeological fieldwork undertaken at the Folkestone Cricket Club, Cheriton Road, revealed a sequence of late prehistoric features comprising mainly field/enclosure ditches, but including also an undated, cremation-related feature. The works, commissioned by CgMs Consulting on behalf of the Cheriton Road Sports Ground Trust, comprised the strip-map-and-sample excavation of an L-shaped area of 1200m² centred on NGR 621345 136800, followed by the archaeological monitoring of the stripping of an additional area to the east (Wessex Archaeology 2011a) (Fig. 1). The excavation followed a desk-based assessment (Smith 2010), and a trial trench evaluation of the site by Archaeology South-East. A World War II air raid shelter recorded during the watching brief is reported separately (Wessex Archaeology 2011b).

A number of Mesolithic and Neolithic flints are recorded from the surrounding area, while finds of Early Bronze Age Beaker pottery are recorded from the golf course to the east of the site. Two possible medieval sand pits which contained Late Iron Age pottery along with several sherds of possible medieval pottery, iron objects and animal bone fragments were found during an evaluation at Harvey Grammar School to the south-west of the site (Boden 2007). An earlier excavation in 1934 in the school’s playing field had uncovered a Romano-British urned cremation burial (HER no. TR 23 NW 60); another was found at the football ground to the immediate south of the site (HER no. TR 23 NW 61). A late medieval house and barn belonging to the manorial complex of Broadmead Manor, which is believed to date to the 13th/14th century, lie to the west.

The site is located at c.35-40m od on a gentle east-facing slope. The former course of the east-flowing Pent Stream lies just north of the site, but this is now culverted, and the ground has been subject to modern landscaping and levelling. As a result it is likely that most of the archaeological features had been truncated to varying degrees. The underlying geology is Folkestone Beds of Lower Greensand Group (British Geological Survey sheets 305 and 306, Folkestone & Dover A); an outcrop of the natural Greensand was exposed in the base of ditch 1113 (below).

Results

The excavation site was dominated by a sequence of ditches, most aligned either north-north-east to south-south-west, or at right angles to that axis; to facilitate their description, the nearest cardinal points are used to describe their orientations.

While a number of the ditches intercut, facilitating their relative phasing, more precise dating is hindered by the small size and poor condition of the pottery assemblage. This was dominated by small and abraded sherds of late prehistoric pottery, of which only a few were of diagnostic forms (of Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, and Middle/Late Iron Age date); a small number of Romano-British sherds, and two possible Saxon or medieval sherds were also recovered. Single fills were recorded in the c.85% of excavated ditch sections, and the frequent mix of pottery of different dates in the ditches indicates a high level of residuality and intrusion.

The earliest material from the site comprises three sherds (14g) of a thick-walled vessel with coarse flint-tempered fabric of probable Middle Bronze Age date, from the fill of ditch 1003 towards the southern end of the site. The slightly curved, approximately east-west ditch, was c.0.6m wide and 0.5m deep, and had been recut on its southern edge by parallel ditch 1005, which was c.0.75m deep and 0.4m deep. The two ditches appear to be closely associated; both ditches were traced for only 2.5m from the eastern edge of the excavation to evaluation trench 8, in which neither was recorded, but where they are likely to have intersected with a larger ditch (1115) running perpendicular to them (although this relationship was not seen). As they were not recorded further west, they may have terminated within area of the evaluation trench. The Middle Bronze Age sherds, however, appear to be residual, as ditches 1003 and 1005 also produced sherds of late prehistoric, Middle/Late Iron Age and Romano-British pottery. The stratigraphical position of these ditches, therefore, remains uncertain.

Ditch 1115 was one of three ditches at the south of the site which ran south-north then turned to the west. The stratigraphically earliest of these three ditches, ditch 1116, was c.1.1m wide and 0.15m deep. The part of it that ran west (after a sharp turn) was cut by ditch 1115 to the north and by ditch 1117 to the south. A short length of smaller (0.3m wide) gully (1033), lying parallel to it c.1.5 m to its west (and also cut by ditch 1117), may be associated with it. Ditch 1116 produced sherds of prehistoric and Romano-British date, while gully 1033 contained no finds.

Parallel to the westward running section of ditch 1116, and c.6m to its north, was east-west ditch 1114, which was 0.8m wide and 0.2m deep, with a shallow U-shaped profile. Only c.5m of its length was visible as it was cut at either end by opposing ditch terminals (of ditches 1073 and 1113, below), and it contained no pottery. However, if it continued west of the excavation, the westward running sections of ditches 1114 and 1116 could represent the end of a c. 6 m wide trackway running from the west. Ditch 1117, which cut the southern edge of ditch 1116, followed a very similar line to it, and was of similar scale (c.1.3m wide and 0.2m deep) and appears to have been the immediate replacement for it; it contained late prehistoric pottery.

A significantly different line was followed, however, by ditch 1115 which cut the northern edge of ditch 1116. Although parallel with these ditches at the south, it took a more gradual curve towards the west. It was also much more substantial – up to 2.4m wide and 0.6m deep. It produced sherds of Iron Age and late prehistoric date (and two Saxon or medieval sherds). Possibly associated with it, being of a comparable scale, were the two opposing ditch terminals (1073 and 1113), which cut ditch 1114. The terminal of the western ditch (1113) was 2.1m wide and up to 0.4m deep, while c.5m to the east the opposing terminal (1073) was 3m wide and 0.5m deep. Together they produced pottery of prehistoric and Romano-British date, and appear to mark a new access point across a substantial east-west boundary at a point matching the end of the suggested trackway. Approximately 3.5m west of the ditch terminal 1113 there was an elongated pit or large posthole (1015), 0.85m wide and 0.6m deep, cutting through the ditch fill on its centre line.

The main feature in the central and northern part of the site was ditch 1109, up to 1.9m wide and 0.4m deep, which appeared to form the western side, the south-west and north-west corners, and part of the northern side, of a rectangular enclosure, c.36m south-north by at least 26m west-east but extending east beyond the excavated area. The ditch contained up to three fills from which were recovered only eleven sherds of pottery (of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age date and late prehistoric date). Approximately parallel to the enclosure’s western side, and possibly associated with it, was a less regular ditch (1112), c.1m wide and 0.3m deep, the southern terminal of which lay 3.8m west of the enclosure’s south-west corner, and which ran north for c.16m before turning to the west. It produced a single Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age sherd. The absence of any diagnostic Middle/Late Iron Age sherds (or Romano-British sherds) from either ditch 1109 or ditch 1112 may indicate that these represent a relatively early phase of activity.

Along the northern side of the enclosure, ditch 1109 was cut by five closely-spaced parallel ditches, two of them abutting but the others spaced c.1.5-2.5m apart. They averaged c.0.8 m wide and 0.3m deep. They contained pottery of mixed prehistoric and Romano-British date, and their date and function are not known. A similar ditch (1080), perpendicular to them, cut across ditch 1109 just north of the enclosure’s south-west corner, and may be associated; so also may feature 1047, which has the appearance of the terminal of a shallow ditch continuing to the east (although no trace of it was observed during the watching brief). These also contained late prehistoric and Romano-British sherds.

The enclosure’s north-west corner was cut by the end of another ditch 1082. The ditch, which ran for c.6m from a terminal at the north-east before turning towards the west and continuing outside the excavation area, was up to c.2.6m wide and 0.3m deep. It contained fragments of pottery, possibly late prehistoric.

During the excavation, only one discrete feature was recorded within the area apparently enclosed by ditch 1109, close to its south-west corner. This was an undated pit (1024) 0.7m in diameter and 0.2m deep with steep straight sides and a flat base. It contained four sherds (5g) of very abraded late prehistoric pottery. During the subsequent watching brief, which monitored the removal of the pitch to the east, another feature was observed c.8m to the north-east (the only undisturbed ground noted during the watching brief lay within the likely area of the enclosure). This was a small pit (1106) c.0.4m in diameter and 0.15m deep, in which was a single charcoal-rich deposit (1105) containing a small quantity (2g) of cremated human bone from an individual over the age of 12 years. The character of the fill and the small amount of bone suggest that it represents a deposit of pyre debris.

It is possible that feature 1047, suggested above to be a possible ditch terminal, may also have been a discrete elongated feature within the enclosure, at least 1.4m long but not extending as far east as the watching brief area.

Finds and Environmental Evidence

The small finds assemblage recovered during the fieldwork consisted almost entirely of pottery (129 sherds weighing 864g), ranging in date from Middle Bronze Age to medieval, and worked flint (104 pieces). Other finds comprise a small quantity of animal bone in very poor condition (including cattle teeth fragments), and a single piece of burnt, unworked flint; these are not further reported.

Most of the pottery is of later prehistoric date (115 sherds, 764g), but only a small proportion of them could be more precisely dated. This is due to the dearth of diagnostic sherds, the lengthy currency of certain inclusion types during the later prehistoric period, and the poor condition of much of the pottery – sherds are generally small (with a mean sherd weight of 6.8g) and abraded. The majority are in fabrics tempered with flint or grog, or sometimes with a combination of the two, and there are also a few sandy fabric sherds.

Diagnostic sherds are restricted to one small rim, a carination or shoulder, and five body sherds with external scoring (a technique used to give a deliberately roughened external surface). These sherds, combined with the variation in the size and frequency of the inclusions, suggests that there are elements here from the Middle Bronze Age (thick-walled sherds with coarse flint: three sherds, 14g), Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age (including a rim and a carination, and some less coarsely tempered fabrics with flint: 11 sherds, 187g) and Middle/Late Iron Age (sandy fabrics, and a number of scored sherds: 15 sherds, 184g). Two sherds, probably of later prehistoric date by association, are too heavily burnt to identify fabric type.

There were also 12 Romano-British sherds (77g), although the possibility that the date range of some of the Iron Age sherds extend into the early Romano-British period cannot be ruled out. These include some grog-tempered sherds, continuing the indigenous later prehistoric ceramic tradition, as well as wheel-thrown ‘Romanised’ sandy wares. One of the sandy greywares derives from a cordoned jar with burnished lattice decoration, of later 1st or 2nd century ad date (context 1010), while an oxidised sandy sherd comes from a shallow dish (context 1048).

There were very few post-Romano-British sherds. One sherd, in a coarse hard-fired sandy fabric, provisionally dated to the Iron Age, could conceivably be of early/mid Saxon date. Two other sherds differ from the rest of the assemblage in their range of inclusions – both contained calcareous inclusions, now leached out, and some sub-angular flint. One is a rim sherd, with an everted, flat-topped profile, either from a jar or dish form. A medieval date is suggested for these sherds, although an earlier date range cannot be ruled out. Flint-tempered wares, sometimes also containing shell, are known amongst early medieval (11th- to 13th-century) assemblages from the south Kent coast (e.g. Cotter 2006, 156-67).

A small assemblage of worked flint (104 pieces) was recovered. This was generally thinly distributed across the site, although a quarter of the pieces came from a single context near the south-west corner of the enclosure defined by ditch 1109. The raw material included good quality black chalk flint, probably from the Kentish Downs, and worn pebbles and cobbles probably from various sources in the drift geology, and from gravels and beaches. A few pieces were of a speckled greenish brown flint of unknown source, but which occurs at other sites in Kent. Most of the material is flake debitage, including a large number of crudely-struck, quite thick angular pieces that appear to be later prehistoric. There was a smaller number of more accomplished pieces, including core trimming flakes, which appear to be of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date, and a very small component from a blade technology of possible Early Neolithic date, these all likely to be residual.

A small quantity (2.8g) of well oxidised (white) cremated human bone was recovered from the charcoal-rich fill of a small pit 1106. The bone comprises small fragments (max. 90mm) of compact bone (long bone shaft) from a sub adult/adult individual (>12 yr.). The small size of the fragments, absence of trabecular bone and the slightly worn/eroded appearance of the bone are all largely reflective of the acidic burial environment (Greensand). The bone was dispersed throughout the 0.15m deep fill; the distribution together with the charcoal-rich nature of the matrix suggests the deposit represents redeposited pyre debris. Insufficient bone survived to allow radiocarbon dating.

Environmental evidence: two bulk samples taken from ditch 1112, and a series of four samples from pit 1106 (containing the cremation-related deposit 1105), were processed for the recovery and assessment of charred plant remains and charcoals. The few remains recovered from the ditch included a grain of hulled wheat, emmer or spelt (Triticum dicoccum/spelta), a glume base of spelt (Triticum spelta), fragments of hazelnut (Corylus avellana) shell and a seed of vetch/wild pea (Vicia/Lathyrus sp.); these are indicative of settlement activity in the vicinity. The samples from pit 1106 contained two indeterminate grain fragments and a glume base of ?emmer (Triticum dicoccum), a few charred stem/root fragments, and a small quantity of wood charcoal fragments >4mm.

Discussion

Despite the limited presence of both Middle Bronze Age and Romano-British pottery (as well as possible Saxon/medieval sherds), no feature clearly dated to any of these periods was identified, although the presence of the pottery does indicate activity in the area. Instead it seems likely that most of the recorded features (if not all) fall within the date range of the late prehistoric pottery.

A number of phases of activity are clearly indicated in the stratigraphical relationships between ditches, and the consistent orientations of many of the ditches suggest a high degree of continuity of land-use over the period of the site’s late prehistoric occupation. As indicated above, however, the pottery provides a poor basis for dating this sequence. Of the more closely dated sherds there were roughly equal quantities dated to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age and the Middle/Late Iron Age, but 60% (by weight) of the earlier material was residual in stratigraphically late ditches; it is possible, therefore, that all the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age sherds were residual, and that the sequence of ditches falls somewhere in the Middle to Late Iron Age.

Enclosures and fields system are known in Kent, including on the Greensand, in the Early Bronze Age (Martin et al. 2012), later Bronze Age and again in the Late Iron Age/early Romano-British period, but are less common in the Early and Middle Iron Age (Williams 2007, 101-2). Despite the small area exposed, the layout of the ditches on this site is comparable with other Middle-Late Iron Age field systems, such as those found extensively around Ashford (e.g. Johnson 2002; Archaeology South-East 2006; Powell 2010; 2013).

The suggested sequence relies, therefore, mainly on the stratigraphical relationships; spatial associations also suggest relationships between some ditches, although given their largely common orientations it is easy to combine them in a number of equally plausible arrangements. Moreover, site-wide phasing is hampered by the limited extent of the excavation area (c.11m wide in its western part, and c.13-16m wide at the north), and by fact that the central and northern array of ditches was unconnected to the southern group. The phasing suggested here is therefore highly tentative.

The pottery from the northern enclosure (and possibly ditch 1112 to its immediate west) suggests that this feature may have been relatively early in date, although the size of the ditch makes it more comparable to the late-phase ditches to the south (1072, 1113 and 1115). Bearing in mind the possible truncation caused by modern landscaping, the apparent lack of internal features (apart for an undated cremation-related feature) and the low level of pottery from the ditch suggest that the enclosure’s primary function was related animal husbandry and pastoralism, rather than settlement.

Unlike ditch 1109, however, no diagnostic Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery was found in ditches 1114, 1115, 1116 or 1117, and instead they produced c.80% (by weight: 147g) of all the Middle/Late Iron Age pottery from the site. A thick, flint-tempered base sherd (108g) from ditch terminal 1113 is of probable Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age date (accounting for over half, by weight, of the pottery from that period), but it is very possibly redeposited given the mixed assemblage from this feature and the opposing terminal (1072). The possible large posthole cutting the ditch close to its terminal suggest that this access point may have been of some significance.

The parallel ditches which cut the northern side of the northern enclosure ditch (as well as possibly ditches 1080 and 1047) may represent the latest phase of activity, although their regular, parallel lines and close spacing make them hard to interpret, particularly since they were not observed in the area of the watching brief c.6m to the south of their southern extents.

Overall, the shared orientation of many of the ditches uncovered on the site suggests the development and modification, possibly during the Early-Middle Iron Age, of a complex but integrated arrangement of enclosures, trackways and other boundaries, with a probable continuing focus on animal husbandry. The dearth of cereal remains in the environmental samples may support this assumption, although the soil conditions may not have been conducive to their survival; the absence of animal bone, possibly for the same reason, was equally notable.

The presence on the site of Romano-British pottery, and nearby of Romano-British cremation burials (to which feature 1106 may be related), suggests significant changes to the use of this landscape by the Romano-British period.

acknowledgements

The fieldwork was commissioned by CgMs Consulting acting on behalf of the Cheriton Road Sports Ground Trust, and carried out by Wessex Archaeology under the direction of Rob De’Athe and managed by Richard Greatorex. The work was monitored for Kent County Council by Ben Found, Archaeological Officer. The pottery was assessed by Lorraine Mepham, the human bone by Jacqueline I. McKinley and the flint assemblage by Matt Levers. The environmental samples were processed by Nicki Mulhall and assessed by Sarah F. Wyles. This report was edited by Andrew B. Powell and the illustrations were prepared by Kenneth Lymer. The excavation archive will be held at Wessex Archaeology under the project code 77310 until accepted by a Kent museum.

rob de’athe

Archaeology South-East, 2006, ‘Brisley Farm, Ashford’, Archaeology South-East website, http://archaeologyse.co.uk/04-Projects/Kent/Brisley-Farm/index.html.

Boden D.C., 2007, ‘Results of an Archaeological Evaluation at The Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone, Kent’, CAT (unpubl. client report).

Cotter, J., 2006, ‘The pottery’, in K. Parfitt, B. Corke and J. Cotter, Townwall Street, Dover: Excavations 1996, The Archaeology of Canterbury (new series), vol. 3, 121-254.

Johnson, C., 2002, ‘The excavation of a Late Iron Age and early Roman site at Brisley Farm, Chilmington Green, Ashford, Kent’, KAS Newsletter, 52, 1-2.

Martin, J., Schuster, J. and Barclay, A., 2012, ‘Evidence of an early Bronze Age Field System and Spelt Wheat growing, together with an Anglo-Saxon Sunken Featured Building, at Monkton Road, Minster in Thanet’, Archaeologia Cantiana, 132, 22-42.

Powell, A.B., 2010, ‘Foster Road, Ashford’, Archaeologia Cantiana, 130, 376-9.

Powell, A.B., 2013, ‘Settlement and landscape reorganisation from the Middle Iron Age to the early Roman period: excavations south-east of Park Farm, Ashford, Kent’, Archaeologia Cantiana, 133, 295-307.

Smith, M., 2010, ‘Archaeological Desk Based Assessment of Cheriton Road Sports Ground’, CgMs Consulting (unpubl. client report).

Wessex Archaeology, 2011a, ‘Folkestone Cricket Club, The County Ground, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent: mitigation works assessment report’, Salisbury, Wessex Arch-aeology (unpubl. client report).

Wessex Archaeology, 2011b, ‘World War II Air Raid Shelter, Cheriton Sports Ground, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent: historic building recording, Salisbury’, Wessex Arch-aeology (unpubl. client report).

a tranchet axe from the alkham valley, near dover

In 2013 a large flint, unusually shaped, was discovered protruding from a mined but in situ section of a small disused quarry near the top of Wolverton Hill. Realizing the flint may be significant, the finder contacted the author who recognised the implement as a Mesolithic tranchet axe (Fig. 1). Dating to between 8,000-4,300 bc, the axe was found at 115m aod, on the south-facing slope approximately 86m down from the summit of the North Downs ridge (TR 26143 43182).

Broken at the butt end in antiquity, the axe measures 21cm in length, 5.3cm wide across the mid horizontal dorsal surface; the central hafting point having been reduced by shallow wasting flaking, measuring 4cm thick at this point. The axe weighs 0.771kg (1.5 lb) and has a relatively flat ventral side, and is roughly plano-convex in form; both lateral bifacial edges exhibit slight wear damage but are not retouched. There are three small patches of cortex remaining on the dorsal ridge with three small patches of iron staining and occasional iron stain flex. The blade itself, convex in shape, has moderate contemporary wear with no evidence for retouching around the blade before being lost or discarded.

The flint axe patina is mottled creamy grey in colour and would have been fitted with a hafted wood handle. The ‘tranchet’ axe owes its description from the removal of a parallel tranchet flake from the cutting blade end. This allowed the axe to be easily re-sharpened with the removal of another opposing parallel flake. This particular example is uncommon in that the shallow tranchet flake was removed from the left side of the blade, an awkward removal for a right-handed person suggesting the artisan was left-handed.

To date, quite a number of flint implements have been recorded from the western head-end of the Alkham Valley along Crete road on the North Downs above Folkestone; a triangular broken section of a hand-axe (Keene 2001a), a fragment of a Neolithic polished axe (Keene 2005), two arrowheads (Keene 2003; Keene 2007), an arrowhead and broken axe or pick and a large fragment of a Neolithic polished axe (Hoskins 1997) and a broken Palaeolithic axe from Hawkinge (Keene 2001b). The Wolverton axe is only the second prehistoric implement recorded within the valley between Crete road and Wolverton at the eastern end of the valley. The first implement, an Acheulean culture hand-axe, was found in 2009 on the edge of the high North Downs plateau above the village of Alkham and dates to between 80,000 and 30,000 bc (Burrows forthcoming b). A small assemblage of lithics, mainly waste flakes, has also been recovered from the partially excavated Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Wolverton in 2008 (Burrows forthcoming a).

The author would like to thank Mrs Susan Mickleborough for bringing the implement to his attention and Bill Laing who kindly produced the illustration.

vince burrows

Burrows, V., forthcoming a, ‘Bronze Age Barrows and Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Wolverton Alkham Valley’.

Burrows, V., forthcoming b, ‘An Acheulean Hand-Axe from Alkham Valley’.

Burrows, V., forthcoming c, ‘Three Arrowheads from the North Downs near Dover’.

Hoskins, R., 1997, ‘Flint Artifacts from Folkestone’, KAR, 130, 241-243.

Keene, M., 2001a, ‘Flint Artefacts from The North Downs, near Folkestone’, KAR, 144, 77-79.

Keene, M., 2001b, ‘Palaeolithic Axe from Hawkinge Aerodrome’, KAR, 146, 131.

Keene, M., 2003, ‘Flint Arrowhead from near Folkestone’, KAR, 151, 22-23.

Keene, M., 2005, ‘Artefacts from The North Downs, near Folkestone’, KAR, 159, 215-216.

Keene, M., 2007, `Flints from Castle Hill, Folkestone’, KAR, 168, 186-187.

an unusual early chalcolithic pit at westwood road, broadstairs

The term ‘Chalcolithic’, though in use for many years in Europe (and the Near East) has only recently become fashionable in British archaeology, largely through the impact of some spectacular recent discoveries (the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowman being just two) and the revolution in high-precision (Bayesian) radiocarbon dating over the last decade or so. It essentially refers to the impact of the ‘Beaker culture’ (including the introduction of metal) on indigenous Neolithic societies starting around 2450-2400 bc through to the establishment of what we might call the ‘Early Bronze Age’ in about 2200-2150 bc.

This is a most important and distinctive period within the British Isles, and the use of the term is very useful. To summarise, by explicitly accepting the utility of a Chalcolithic, we are acknowledging a period for which the composite cultural landscape was radically different from what went before because of the introduction of a whole new component, that of Beaker culture. Likewise, we are saying this is not yet the classic Early Bronze Age – there is no consistent bronze alloying; there is no regular construction of round mounds for burial, nor therefore the development of barrow cemeteries proper (although Chalcolithic graves can cluster together); there are not yet the archetypal Early Bronze Age ceramic forms, Food Vessels and Urns. Defining the Chalcolithic gives us a way of resolving the terminological difficulties that derive from adherence to the Three-Age system. ¹

A large pit excavated at Westwood Road, Broadstairs produced a radiocarbon date of 2467-2215 cal bc, placing it in the earlier Chalcolithic (sensu Needham 2012). Unlike other pits of this date excavated elsewhere, this pit produced very few finds, just a couple of fragments of flint and a residual scrap of Beaker pottery in its uppermost fill. Without the radiocarbon date the feature would effectively be undatable, and it may be that other pits of similar form without chronologically diagnostic artefacts may date to this period. The identification and dating of this pit complements our understanding of pit deposition practices in the later third millennium bc (Garrow 2006; Thomas 2012).

The pit was revealed during an excavation undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) on land at the junction of Westwood Road and Margate Road, Broadstairs (WRB-EX-12; NGR 636488 167861 Fig. 1) in February 2012 (Lane 2013). The work was commissioned by RPS Planning on behalf of Location 3 Properties Ltd prior to development of the site for retail use with associated landscaping. An earlier evaluation (WRB-EV-12; O’Shea 2012) had identified the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age pit along with several late Bronze Age pits and ditches associated with a field system and enclosure that extended further to the south-west of the site (Gollop 2005). The excavation comprised an area of 205.33m² limited to the eastern side of the development site. Natural geology consisting of underlying Upper Margate Chalk overlain by Head Clay and gravel deposits was located across the site at around 48m od (approximately 0.95m below the present ground surface).

The investigation revealed the full extent of a large sub-oval pit [8027] that was 1.77m long, 1.66m wide and 0.85m deep and aligned north-east by south-west. The profile was roughly u-shaped with steep undulating sides and a flat base that sloped from the south-east to north-west down to a small hollow (Fig. 2).

The primary deposits (8055 and 8056) consisted of mottled yellow green and red brown silty clay with no inclusions, caused by natural erosion of the sides of the pit. These were sealed by a layer of light grey silt (8054) that contained charcoal, traces of mussel shell and carbonised plant material. A piece of charcoal from a fast growing tree species (Prunus sp.) retrieved from this deposit produced a radiocarbon date of 2467-2215 cal bc (UBA–21279; 3876 bp ± 30 years).

Deposit 8054 was overlain by a 0.10m thick layer of sterile mottled green yellow to red brown clay (8052 and 8053) that abutted the sides of the pit. This was followed by a phase of deliberate tipped fills (8050, 8051 and 8026) forming a 0.29m thick sequence of dark brown clay silts with charcoal, traces of charred cereal grain and a seed identified as sheep’s sorrel (Rumex cf. acetosella), burnt and calcined flint as well as occasional small to medium natural flint inclusions. Micromorphological and microchemical analysis of fill 8051 (Macphail 2013) suggested that it was the result of rapid infilling with possible trampling action; traces of dung and a high organic phosphate level suggest there was active animal husbandry occurring nearby.

These organic deposits were sealed by a 0.53m thick layer of yellow green to red brown redeposited natural clay (8025) that appeared to have slumped into the centre of the pit. The resulting hollow at the top of the pit was filled by a final 0.40m thick deposit of loose brown clay silt (8023) with trace amounts of fine topsoil that formed sandy silt loam and contained a single heavily abraded fragment of comb-decorated Beaker pottery and a possible worked flint. Micromorphological analysis suggested that this final deposit had formed by slow silting.

The environmental analysis of samples taken from within pit 8027 was largely inconclusive although there were at least two species of land snail that were characteristic of dry open places, particularly short-turfed grassland (Allison 2013). Further analysis of the charred plant remains (Gray 2013) indicated that charcoal from pit 8027 was being produced from fast growing tree species that could have formed part of hedgerows across the landscape. Trace amounts of cereal grains in the form of oat (Avena sp.) and free-threshing type wheat (Triticum cf. aestivum) were also identified from the backfill of the pit. Further seeds from grassland and arable crops including spelt (Triticum spelta L) were identified from the late Bronze Age features found during the evaluation. This indicates that the surrounding area from the early Beaker period onwards was being actively managed for livestock as well as for limited arable crop production.

Pit 8027 was the most significant feature identified within the excavation. The radiocarbon date from fill 8054 suggests that the pit dates to the late Neolithic to early Chalcolithic transition when the native late Neolithic ‘Grooved Ware’ culture was being introduced to influences and people from the continent (Needham 2012). This transitional phase appears to have lasted for just two to three centuries (c.2450-2150 bc) and was characterised by the introduction of Beaker material culture and Beaker ritual practices. Although there appears to have been a wave of new people and ideas into Britain during this period it is unlikely that the indigenous ‘Grooved Ware’ population would have immediately changed their beliefs, rituals and social activities (Needham 2012, 21-22). Thus although it is impossible to understand the large pit at Westwood Road as either a ‘Beaker’ or ‘late Neolithic’ phenomenon it is most likely that its purpose and use reflected the ideas and beliefs of the late Neolithic people who still dominated the landscape in the early stages of this transition.

The archaeological record for the period is dominated by the presence of pits containing midden and cultural debris (Thomas 2012, 1). Within 600m to the east of the site two separate excavations in advance of the development of a Tesco Metro and a retail park uncovered over 48 shallow bowl-shaped pits of Neolithic date (Poole and Webley 2008, 77; Macphail and Crowther 2006). The proximity of pit 8027 to this activity perhaps suggests that it formed a continuation of this settlement.

The pits from the Tesco Metro and retail park sites contained artefacts such as early Neolithic pottery and struck flint. Soil analysis of one pit fill also identified a high organic phosphate level. The pits observed were clustered together and often contained a single midden rich fill. These and many similar pits across the country have been interpreted as a tradition of recurrent pit digging and deliberate deposition of material possibly derived from a midden context (Anderson-Whymark and Thomas 2012). This tradition of pit digging continues into the late Neolithic as observed in Ireland where pits have been found containing both sparse and rich assemblages of Grooved Ware pottery (Smyth 2012, 22) and in the Upper Thames Valley where the tradition can be traced into the early Bronze Age (Anderson-Whymark 2012). In Kent most of the evidence for later Neolithic settlement is in the form of shallow pits and the pottery assemblage is dominated by Peterborough Ware, though pits containing Grooved Ware are known from Mill Hill, Deal (Champion 2007, 85; Parfitt 1990).

Elsewhere in Kent the majority of pits dated to this period contained large depositions of artefacts. A large sub-oval pit 1374 was uncovered by Oxford Archaeology during recent excavations in advance of improvements to the A2 from Pepperhill to Cobham in 2006-7 (Allen et al. 2012, 16). This was similar in size (1.2m long and 0.95m wide) but was only 0.33m deep. A hazelnut shell from the backfill of this pit gave a carbon date range of 2470-2210 cal bc (NZA-32282).

At Beechbrook Wood near Ashford, pit 1374 was identified during excavations prior to the construction of the High Speed 1 rail link (Garwood 2011, 119); this measured 1.7m by 1.3m and 0.3m deep. Three separate carbon dates from a charred hazelnut shell (2470-2200 cal bc; NZA-21170), Corylus charcoal (2290-2030 cal bc; NZA-22739) and a charred crab apple seed (2280-2030 cal bc; NZA-22738) gave an overall date range for the pit of 2470-2030 cal bc.

Both the pit found on the A2 and the pit from Beechbrook Wood contained abundant Beaker pottery, from up to seventeen separate vessels ranging in style, form and grog temper, along with abundant worked flint. In both features the artefacts were amongst ashy material likely derived from a midden. The scarce nature of these features within the landscape and the abundance of artefacts prompted the interpretation that these were strategically placed features, perhaps way markers that were repeatedly visited possibly for ritual activities and deposition (Allen et al. 2012, 99; Garwood 2011, 123).

The pit at Westwood Road seems quite different to these contemporaneous features which are characterised by large artefact assemblages. It may be that it was intended to have a different function; although large, its size and symmetrical nature does not suggest a quarry pit, and there was no evidence that it had been used for storage of grain or other foodstuffs although this cannot be entirely discounted. An alternative function is that of a cistern, though if this were the case it would have needed some form of clay lining to make the feature water tight and this was not evidenced in the micromorphological analysis. Notwithstanding this, the pit did appear to have been deliberately filled in (though the primary silting deposits suggest that it had been left open for some time before this occurred). Though practically devoid of artefacts, the infills did contain carbonised plant material, charcoal, animal dung and so forth, suggesting that material had been brought from elsewhere and deliberately deposited in the pit. Other organic materials may have decayed without trace.

Thus it may be possible to understand the Westwood Road pit in the context of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age pit deposition practices where material was introduced into the earth to enhance its fertility (the presence of dung here is evocative from this perspective) along with a whole range of other potential meanings (Case 1973; Thomas 2012; Pollard 2001). Whilst attention has focussed on those pits producing objects such as pottery, flint tools and so on, perhaps similar practices occurred that focussed on the deposition of organic materials that have left no (or little) trace. If this is the case, then perhaps we should accommodate the possibility that other pits found elsewhere of similar form without datable artefacts and without radiocarbon dates may also belong to this late Neolithic/early Bronze Age tradition of pit deposition.

ross lane

¹ Introductory note by Peter Clark, Deputy Director, CAT, quoting Stuart Needham (2012).

Allen, T., Donnelly, M. and Hayden, C., 2012 ‘From the Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age’, in T. Allen et al. (eds), A road through the past: Archaeological discoveries on the A2 Pepperhill to Cobham road-scheme in Kent, Oxford Archaeology Monograph, 16, 98-100.

Allison, E., 2013, ‘Environmental analysis’, in R. Lane, 13-15.

Anderson-Whymark, H., 2012, ‘Neolithic to early Bronze Age pit deposition practices and the temporality of occupation in the Thames Valley’, in H. Anderson-Whymark and J. Thomas (eds), pp. 187-199.

Anderson-Whymark, H. and Thomas, J. (eds), 2012, Regional perspectives on Neolithic deposition: beyond the mundane, Neolithic Studies Group Seminar Papers, 12, Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Case, H., 1973, ‘A ritual site in north-east Ireland’, in G. Daniel and P. Kjaerum (eds), Megalithic Graves and Ritual, Moesgård: Jutland Archaeology Society, 173-196.

Champion, T., 2007, ‘Prehistoric Kent’, in J. Williams (ed), The archaeology of Kent to AD 800, Maidstone: KCC, 67-132.

Garrow, D., 2006, Pits, Settlement and Deposition during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in East Anglia, Oxford BAR (British Series), p. 414.

Garwood, P., 2011, ‘Early Prehistory’, in P. Booth et al. (eds), On Track: The archaeology of High Speed 1 Section 1 in Kent, Wessex Archaeology Monograph, 4, 118-124.

Gollop, A., 2005, ‘Westwood Cross, Broadstairs’, in Canterbury’s Archaeology 2003-2004, 18-19.

Gray, L., 2013, ‘Charred plant remains’, in R. Lane, 15-18.

Lane, R., 2013, ‘An archaeological excavation at the Former Build Centre, Westwood road, Broadstairs, Kent’, unpubl. client assessment report, CAT 2013/5.

Macphail, R., 2013, ‘Soil micromorphology and microchemistry of fills within pit 8027’, in R. Lane, 18-21.

Macphail, R. and Crowther, J., 2006, ‘Broadstairs Retail Park, Kent (BRRP05): soil micromorphology, chemistry and magnetic susceptibility’, Oxford Archaeology.

McNee, B., 2013, ‘The prehistoric pottery’, in R. Lane, 12-13.

Needham, S., 2012, ‘Case and Place for the British Chalcolithic’, in M. Allen, J. Gardiner and A. Sheridan (eds), Is there a British Chalcolithic? People, place and polity in the later 3rd millennium, Oxford: The Prehistoric Society and Oxbow Books, 1-26.

O’Shea, L., 2012, ‘An archaeological evaluation at the former Build Centre, Westwood Road, Broadstairs, Kent’, unpubl. client interim report, CAT 2012/3.

Parfitt, K., 1990, ‘Excavations at Mill Hill, Deal, 1982-1989: an interim report’, Kent Archaeological Review, 101, 9-18.

Pollard, J., 2001, ‘The aesthetics of depositional practice’, World Archaeology, 33 (2), 315-333.

Poole, K. and Webley, L., 2008, ‘Prehistoric activity at Westwood, Broadstairs’, Arch-aeologia Cantiana, 128, 75-106.

Smythe, J., 2012, ‘Breaking ground: an overview of pits and pit-digging in Neolithic Ireland’, in H. Anderson-Whymark and Thomas, J., pp. 13-29.

Thomas, J., 2012, ‘Introduction: beyond the mundane?’, in H. Anderson-Whymark and Thomas, J., pp. 1-12.

the archaeology of the farningham-hadlow gas pipeline

Middle-Late Bronze Age cremation burials, Late Iron Age and Romano-British enclosures, a probable Romano-British villa, and an Early Anglo-Saxon cemetery were among the main finds uncovered during mitigation works (targeted strip-map-and-record excavation and watching brief) undertaken in 2008-9 prior to the laying of a new 22km gas pipeline in Kent (Wessex Archaeology 2011) (Fig. 1). The pipeline starts in the Upper Chalk of the North Downs, near Farningham, and runs south across Middle and Lower Chalk, Gault/Upper Greensand, and Lower Greensand, ending with the area of Wealden Clay, near Hadlow.

The pipeline route had previously been subject to desk-based assessment, walk-over survey and fieldwalking (RSK 2008), and geophysical survey (Bartlett-Clark Consultancy 2007), the combined results of which indicated a number of areas of high archaeological potential that were subject to trial trench evaluation (Wessex Archaeology 2008). The result of the evaluation led to the identification of a number of mitigation areas which were subject to strip-map-and-record excavation. In addition, a watching brief was conducted during topsoil and subsoil stripping along the whole pipeline route revealing further archaeological sites.

The full results of the excavations are being published in two eArchaeological Reports on the KAS website (http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/), one describing the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Pilgrim’s Way, Wrotham (Stoodley forthcoming), the other describing all the other archaeological findings along the pipeline (with only summary details of the cemetery) (Powell forthcoming).

A walk-over survey and targeted test-pitting, undertaken at several locations of Palaeolithic potential along the pipeline route, produced only three pieces of possible Palaeolithic flintwork. However, a significant assemblage of Early Mesolithic flints was recovered from the excavation site at New Ash Green (centred on NGR 560200 164690). The only evidence for Neolithic or Early Bronze Age activity along the pipeline was a small number of dispersed flints, including a fragment of a polished Neolithic axe and a barbed and tanged arrowhead.

Nine small features containing cremated human bone, most of them probably graves for unurned cremation burials, were recorded over an area c.1.9 km long to the west of Wrotham. This area lies to the immediate south of the prominent south-facing escarpment at the edge of the Upper Chalk, which marks the southern boundary of the North Downs. Those buried were of mixed age and sex. Five radiocarbon dates were obtained, falling mainly within the latter part of the Middle Bronze Age, possibly extending into the Late Bronze Age: the earliest was calibrated (at 2 sigma) to 1430-1270 cal bc (SUERC-34548, 3085±30 bp), the latest to 1260-1020 cal bc (SUERC-34553, 2930±30 bp).

A number of Late Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age features were recorded along the pipeline, all but one of them lying along the same section of the route as the cremation burials.

A Late Iron Age subcircular enclosure (at NGR 559850 157450) was excavated immediately east of Ightham Court, to the west of Borough Green (Fig. 2C). The enclosure was subsequently slightly enlarged (by less the 20% of its area) by extending outward the ditch along its south-eastern side, and at the same time cutting across the earlier west-facing entrance, leaving no apparent means of access other than by a bridge (for which no evidence was found). There were a number of pits of varying size within the enclosure, as well as a series of post-holes. The majority of post-holes were within two groups, one having a curved arrangement possibly representing a small round-house, the other linear, possibly marking a fenced boundary. Two lengths of curving ditch may define some internal division within the enclosure, enclosing the possible round-house. The finds suggests domestic occupation, and the pottery, which included sherds of Late Iron Age to early Romano-British date, indicates that the enclosure continued in use into the post-Conquest period, although it could not be established whether or not the enclosure’s enlargement occurred in the Romano-British period. The site lay c.2km to the north-east of the large Oldbury hillfort, which itself may have been remodelled at the start of the Romano-British period (Ward Perkins 1944; Thompson 1986).

A series of Romano-British possible enclosure and other ditches were revealed by the excavation at New Ash Green (Fig. 2A), many of them lying parallel to a broad spread of gleyed soil running north-south across the site. Most of the ditches on the site, however, many of which were poorly dated but clearly of more than one phase, formed no obvious pattern. At the west, two lengths of curving ditch appear to define an enclosure with a west-facing entrance, but it was unclear which (if any) of the other ditches marked its eastern side. Another ditch appeared to mark the southern side of a rectangular enclosure (or at least a ditched plot) that extended to the north beyond the pipeline easement. The pottery assemblage from the site was dominated by sherds of early Romano-British date, but with some sherds of middle, and fewer still of late, Romano-British date. A small quantity of often abraded Iron Age and Late Iron Age pottery was also recovered, but this may all be residual in later features, and there was no clear phase of Late Iron Age activity on the site. The largest feature was a c.15m wide pond, which augering showed to have been c.3.5m deep. Among the finds from the pond were a broken copper alloy cup, 12 Roman coins of 1st-4th century ad date, part of a possible lead curse (Object number 39) and a number of iron objects, suggesting that the pond may have been used for the making of votive offerings over an extended period.

There were a number of pits of various size, some of them intercutting, as well as two slightly converging lines of post-holes leading west away from the soil spread. At the west of the site was a large sub-rectangular oven, probably for corn drying; it was filled with the collapsed clay superstructure, some of the fired clay having wattle impressions. The site also produced the bulk (over 37kg) of the iron-working slag from the entire pipeline, much of it (virtually all from smithing) from a single large pit. The presence of the oven and the evidence of metalworking may indicate that the excavation site lay on the margins of a more substantial farming settlement lying outside the site.

The watching brief (centred on NGR 560080 153430) in Fairlawne Park, Plaxtol, recorded the Ragstone foundations of a Roman villa building of simple rectangular ‘cottage villa’ form (Perring 2002), and associated features (Fig. 2D). Although not all of the building, which measured c.26.5m long (aligned sw-ne) by 11m wide, was exposed, it appeared to comprise a central room flanked at either end by symmetrical arrangements of three rooms – with long rooms facing to the south-east and pairs of smaller rooms behind them. As the building was preserved in situ, the walls and the room interiors were cleaned but not excavated. A well and a number of pits and small ovens lay to the south-east of the building, as did two parallel ditches that may mark the line of a 6m wide trackway. There were two small groups of evenly spaced post-holes, although neither formed any recognisable structure. A subsequent geophysical survey of the site identified numerous geophysical anomalies of probable archaeological origin extending both north and south of the building, although none could be attributed a specific character or date (Wessex Archaeology 2010). The pottery assemblage from the site was dominated by early Romano-British wares, suggesting that this was the period of the building’s occupation. However, all but one of the 27 Roman coins recovered post-dated ad 260. Two other villas are known at Plaxtol (de la Bédoyère 1991; Scott 1993), and it is possible that these developed during the Romano-British period at the expense of the Fairlawne Park villa, which may have been deserted or reverted to some non-domestic function. It is possible that the late coins, most of which came from the building, represent a dispersed hoard of the 330s/340s ad concealed in an abandoned building.

Part of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery of late 6th-/mid 7th-century date (centred on NGR 559470 159580) was excavated adjacent to an ancient trackway, now known as Pilgrims’ Way, which at this location west of Wrotham runs along the base of the Chalk escarpment (Fig. 2B). Eleven inhumation graves were excavated, the possible focus of some of them being a large, well-furnished burial of an adult male in a chambered grave encircled by a ring-ditch with an internal setting of post-holes, dated by the grave goods to c.ad 600-625. Among the finds from this burial were a sword, a shield boss and studs, a spearhead and ferrule, a knife, a pair of gilt copper alloy and silver drinking horn mounts, a glass claw-beaker, a bone comb and copper alloy belt fittings. Adjacent to this grave’s ring ditch were two smaller, penannular ditches also surrounding graves. The condition of the bone in the graves was generally poor, and a further five grave-like features contained no human bones, although one contained a fragment of glass bead, possibly a grave good. Four of these ‘empty’ graves were small, probably for infants, and it is possible that all the bone in them had decayed. The fourth, full-sized, ‘empty’ grave had an anomalous nw-se orientation. Of the other graves eight were orientated approximately north-south and seven approximately east-west. Of the sexed burials, seven were adult males, five of them accompanied by weapons; three were certainly or probably female (one juvenile and two adults), with only the juvenile having any grave goods (a buckle).

Low-level Saxon activity was also recorded at the New Ash Green site, with one pit containing sherds of Early-Middle Saxon (c.ad 575-800) organic-tempered pottery, a fragmentary worked bone comb with ring-and-dot decoration, and fragments of copper alloy sheet. Further small numbers of Saxon sherds were recovered at two other locations along the pipeline.

acknowledgements

The project was commissioned by Fabricon Ltd on behalf of Southern Gas Networks Ltd, and monitored for Kent County Council by Wendy Rogers. The project was managed for Wessex Archaeology by Richard Greatorex, and the excavation was directed by Rob De’Athe. The illustrations are by Rob Goller. Full reports on the fieldwork (Powell forthcoming; Stoodley forthcoming) are published on the KAS website (http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/). The archive and finds will be held at the offices of Wessex Archaeology, Old Sarum, Salisbury, under project codes 70300-4, until accepted by a Kent museum.

[The full report is published in the Kent Archaeological Reports Section on the KAS website.]

andrew b. powell

Bartlett-Clark Consultancy, 2007, Farningham to Hadlow: report on archaeogeophysical survey of proposed gas pipeline 2007. Part 1: report and inventory of findings (unpubl.).

Bédoyère, G. de la, 1991, The Buildings of Roman Britain, London, Batsford.

Perring, D., 2002, The Roman House in Britain, London, Routledge.

RSK Environment Ltd, 2008, Farningham to Hadlow Pipeline: archaeological desk-based assessment and walkover survey (unpubl. client report).

Scott, E., 1993, A Gazetteer of Roman Villas in Britain, Leicester, Leicester Archaeol. Monogr. 1

Stoodley, N., forthcoming, ‘An Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Pilgrim’s Way, near Wrotham, Kent’, KAS eArchaeology. rep.

Thompson, F.H., 1986, ‘The Iron Age hillfort of Oldbury, Kent: excavations 1983-4’, Antiq. J., 66, 267-86.

Ward Perkins, J.B., 1944, ‘Excavations of the Iron Age hillfort of Oldbury, near Ightham, Kent’, Archaeologia, 90, 127-76.

Wessex Archaeology, 2008, Farningham to Hadlow Kent 1200 mm Diameter Natural Gas Pipeline: archaeological trial trench evaluation report (unpubl. client report).

Wessex Archaeology, 2010, Land at Fairlawne Estate, Plaxtol, Kent: detailed Gradiometer and Ground Penetrating Radar survey report (unpubl. client report).

Wessex Archaeology, 2011, Farningham to Hadlow, Kent, 1200 mm Natural Gas Pipeline: post excavation assessment report and updated project design (unpubl. client report).

Fig. 1 Site location and development area (red line).

Fig. 2 General distribution of archaeological features.

Fig. 3 Early to Middle Iron Age segmented ring-ditch.

Fig. 1 Site location with a plan showing all archaeological features.

Fig. 1 The Mesolithic tranchet axe found at Wolverton Hill. (Illustration by Bill Laing.)

Fig. 1 Site location plan.

Fig. 2 Pit 8027 plan and section.

Fig. 1 The route of the pipeline with the locations of the excavation sites mentioned in the text.

Fig. 2 Unphased plans of the sites at A) New Ash Green; B) Pilgrims’ Way, Wrotham; C) Ightham; and D) Fairlawne Park, Plaxtol.