Two important Mesolithic Sites in North-West Kent
Mesolithic sites in Kent are less well understood and less studied than sites from other prehistoric periods. Where Mesolithic flints are found, they are often only surface scatters. Very few Mesolithic features or in-situ knapping sites are known. This is partly due to Kent’s geographic position at the time; connected with the continent and part of the Doggerland landmass, Kent was a hinterland. To the author’s knowledge there are no ongoing research excavations of Mesolithic sites in the county. Three Mesolithic sites with features have recently been published in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link volume ‘On Track, The Archaeology of High Speed 1 Section 1 in Kent’.
For these reasons, evidence of two new substantial Mesolithic sites is important for our understanding of this period in Kent. The first is located in Shorne Woods Country Park, where two Lottery-funded archaeology projects have been investigating a number of Mesolithic flint scatters for the past six years. Although none of the material can yet be viewed as being in situ, we now have over 3,000 struck flint pieces, a number of microliths and a large number of cores. Over the coming winter, volunteers from the current Lottery-funded Shorne HubCAP project will be hard at work digging further test pits.
At Ranscombe Farm, on the Plantlife nature reserve, we have a second Mesolithic site. This site was discovered by Dave May, a Plantlife volunteer, amateur archaeologist and local resident. He asked Kent County Council’s Community Archaeologist and volunteers from the Shorne HubCAP project to assist him in the investigation of this site. The quantity and quality of the finds recovered are potentially of national importance. Over 5,000 struck flints have been recorded, including a number of microliths, axes and adzes. Dave has been able to piece a number of these struck flints back together. This could indicate we are close to where they were originally knapped. Once the current phase of work has been fully reported, part of this scatter may be investigated further.
In keeping with the community archaeology sentiments voiced elsewhere in this newsletter, Dave has been displaying some of the key finds at Open Days at both Shorne and Ranscombe. We also have a page for each site on the Archaeology in Kent facebook page www.facebook.com/archaeologyinkent. If you are interested in finding out more about these sites, please contact Andrew Mayfield at andrew.mayfield@kent.gov.uk or 07920 548906.