Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Excavation in 2000-2002 carried out as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link found five early Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings in the vicinity of Northfleet Roman villa.

Location accurate to 2m based on available information.

Monument Types

• PIT (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 480 AD to 720 AD)
• POST HOLE (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 480 AD to 720 AD)

Full description

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Excavation in 2000-2002 carried out as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link found five early Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings (SFB 16636, 16637, 16638, 16635, 16699) in the vicinity of Northfleet Roman villa. All were c. 3-4m in length and c. 2-3m in width. They had post holes at each end and some had additional post holes within the structures. Finds from the structures included pottery, charcoal (radiocarbon dated to AD 420 - 570), animal bone, nails, lead weights, daub, iron slag, a spindle whorl (1) and an applied saucer brooch (2).

The backfill of SFB 16638 contained an unusual antler spearhead, as well as a bone pin beater and a bone spindle whorl, while a possible toggle was found in both SFB 16635 and SFB 16636 (2).

The animal bone included a cattle atlas with osteoarthritis from SFB 16635, a right sheep humerous with 'penning elbow' also from SFB 16635, a cattle metacarpal with probable ossified haematoma from SFB 16638, and butchered red deer bone from several SFBs (2).

SFB 16637 was defined as a shallow flatbottomed pit (10326) measuring 4.00 m by 2.72 m and 0.24 m deep.Three structural post-holes were identified within the footprint of the SFB. A futher (possibly structural) post hole was found in the SE corner of the SBF. All three post-holes were respected by the accumulated infill of the pit indicating that the postholes (or at least their bases) were in situ while this
process was underway.The primary pit fill was a mid-orangey–grey silty sand with infrequent gravel and charcoal inclusions. The secondary fill was a greyer silty sand, again with infrequent gravel and charcoal inclusions, along with small fragments of CBM
and animal bone.(1)

Finds from the lower fill included 5th–6th century pottery, animal bone, and both burnt and unburnt stone.(1)

Location accurate to 2m based on available information.

<1> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2010, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape (Unpublished document). SKE31245.

<2> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. Volume 4: Saxon and Later Finds and Environmental Reports (Monograph). SKE32437.

Sources and further reading

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