Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

several groups Anglo Saxon pits were discovered across zone 14 of the excavations associated with the construction of the East Kent Access routeway in Thanet. The concentration of pits suggest that this was and activity area/settlement in this period, and the finds suggest that shellfish processing may have been carried out here. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• HEARTH (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• PIT (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• SETTLEMENT? (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• COMB (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• HANGER (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• KNIFE (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• QUERN (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• SHEARS (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• SHERD (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• SLAG (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• WHETSTONE (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Full description

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An Anglo Saxon cemetery which was discovered in Zone 14 of the excavations associated with the construction of the East Kent Access routeway in Thanet, lay in an area that was relatively devoid of other features. This is apart from large scatters of pits and postholes approximately 10m to the north, west and east. A group of five pits which may have marked the western boundary of the cemetery, the finds assemblage from this is relatively small aside from a large quantity animal bone and shell which suggests that they lay close to a settlement or an activity area. a little further to the west and southwest of the cemetery 34 pits formed a diffuse group. These were generally oval in plan and bowl shaped in profile, most 1.2m in diameter but rarely more that 1m deep. Most contained marine shell in varying quantities with the occasional pot sherds, animal bones and other small finds (part of a comb, iron knives). One pit produced fragments of fired clay and stone, much of it unworked sandstone, but also a few pieces of lava quern stone, and a glass bead. The exceptions to this general paucity of finds was one shallow pit which produced 3.2kg of shell and 1.1kg of animal bone and two further pits which contained large quantities of fired clay, unworked stone, animal bone and charred barley. These possibly provide evidence for crop drying at the site, with the fired clay possibly coming from crop dryers. To the north and east of the cemetery 21 pits clustered around a pair of slab lined hearths with a further six pits to the west. Again, there were generally few finds in the pits aside from several which contained large quantity of marine shell from a variety of species. it is possible that these hearths were used from the preparation and cooking of fish, perhaps seasonal preparation for smoking or pickling. Further shellfish remains were recorded in the upper fills of the earlier features in this area. it is thought that this material represents the remnants of what was formerly a more extensive spread of a mid Saxon shellfish processing debris.

A third concentration of 48 pits lay at the eastern extremity of the zone on the slightly higher ground on the west side of Hollins Bottom dry valley. Like the pits to the west, many of these were oval and some sub circular, but here there were more sub-rectangular examples, though most were much smaller than the pits to the west. Again the fills were simple and contained few finds with deposits of shellfish being the most distinguishing feature. A small quantity of pottery recovered from them was Anglo Saxon in date and included some Ipswich wares and the iron objects recovered included six knives, two shears blades, a gridle hanger and at least one clapper from a small bell. There was also some lava querns stones, whetstones and some fragments of iron slag from within some of these pits. Less than half could be securely dated but it is likely that many are contemporary. This eastern group covered an area approximately 80m by at least 35m and appear to cluster in three main groups. The pits have been interpreted as rubbish pits with the presence of fish bone perhaps indicating cess disposal though no mineralised plant remains were recorded. It seems likely that this concentration of pits marks the location of a small settlement, although no structural remains were identified, though it is possible that structural remains may have been truncated.
(information summarised from source) (1-2)

<1> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, East Kent Access (Phase II), Thanet, Kent: Post-Excavation Assessment Volume 1 (Unpublished document). SKE29279.

<2> 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