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Monument details
| HER Number: | TR 36 SW 454 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Roman cemetery associated with late Iron Age and Roman settlement area discovered during east Kent Access excavations (2009-2011) |
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Summary
A small but long lived mixed rite Roman cemetery was discovered in Zone 10 of the excavations associated with the construction of the East Kent Access route in Thanet. There were eight inhumation burials, two disturbed an re interred burials and six cremation burials. It is possible that they represent several generations of a family. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)
| Grid Reference: | TR 6337 1642 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR61NW |
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| Parish: | MINSTER, THANET, KENT |
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Monument Types
Associated Finds
- VESSEL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
Full description
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One of the ditches along the southern margin of the trackway was slightly irregular and the eastern arm curved to the south to enclose an area containing a mixed rite cemetery the cemetery consisted of eight inhumation burials, two disturbed an re interred burials and six cremation burials, one of which was in the base of a grave that contained a single long bone and another which was located on the feet of an inhumation burial. One of the cremation burials was radiocarbon dated to cal AD 130-330 indicating a middle to Late Roman date, which is corroborated by the ceramic container and accessory vessel. Three other grave-shaped features were devoid of burials and seem unlikely to have ever held them given the reasonable bone preservation within the adjacent graves. One notable burial had been decapitated and the head placed between the lower legs facing north east. The cemetery appears to have been used for a considerably long time, starting in the early Roman period and with a middle Roman component and at least two of the burials were late 3rd or 4th century in date. It is possible that the burials represent several generations of one family. (information summarised from source) (1)
<1> Andrews et al, 2015, Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites (Monograph). SKE55517.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <1>XY | Monograph: Andrews et al. 2015. Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites. [Mapped feature: #115480 cemetery, ] |
Related records
| TR 36 SW 363 | Part of: Late Iron Age and Roman settlement, discovered during East Kent Access Route excavations 2009-2011, zone 9 (Monument) |
