Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Four hoards of late Bronze Age metalwork had previously been found in the immediate vicinity of Zone 4, whilst two gold bracelets , one further hoard and fragments if a possible dispersed hoard were recorded during this phase of work. Together all the hoards represent a unique assemblage in that all but that found in the late 19th century come from excavations and thus have an archaeological context. All area likely to have been deposited within the period 920-750 BC. (location accurate to the nearest 500m based on available information)

Monument Types

• Hoard (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)

Associated Finds

• AXE (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)
• BRACELET (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)
• INGOT (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)
• KNIFE (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)
• PALSTAVE (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)
• SPEARHEAD (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)
• SWORD (Late Bronze Age - 920 BC to 750 BC)

Full description

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Four hoards of late Bronze Age metalwork had previously been found in the immediate vicinity of Zone 4, whilst two gold bracelets , one further hoard and fragments if a possible dispersed hoard were recorded during this phase of work. Together all the hoards represent a unique assemblage in that all but that found in the late 19th century come from excavations and thus have an archaeological context. All area likely to have been deposited within the period 920-750 BC.

The East Kent Access hoard comprised 16 fragments of copper alloy objects (including pieces of socketed axe and a sword) and ingots, was found at the base of the subsoil towards the northern end of the Zone. The nature of the findspot is similar to that of the hoards found earlier west and to the south east of Zone 4. Four further objects were recovered 40m to the east of Zone 4. Although unstratified the bracelets are thought to have been a deliberately placed deposit or part of such a deposit.

Hoards of metalwork are one of the defining characteristics of the Late Bronze Age in Kent and several are known from Thanet. there is however a remarkable concentration of them in the Ebbsfleet peninsula and the two small hoards found during the East Kent Access excavations in Zone 4, one of gold and one of bronze, bring this total up to 7 or possibly 8. All of the hoards belong to the Ewart Park metalworking stage of the Bronze Age (c. 1020-800BC) which is the last stage before Iron was introduced in Britain. Hoards of this date typically comprise deliberately broken objects and ingots and because of this they are traditionally known as metalworkers or founders hoards.

The small number of radio carbon dates suggests that the ‘mature’ Ewart Park assemblage, to which the Ebbsfleet peninsula hoards belong, post dates 920 BC. Many hoards are known from this phase, they often include fragments of objects that were made in continental Europe, including the Nantes-type sword whose tip had been suggested to recall a carp fish. This shape has lent its name to the hoards, the ‘Carp Tongue’ hoards or horizon. These may not always include a sword but the core elements of this type of hoard are complete or fragmentary socketed axe heads or ingots. These types of hoard are rarely found in archaeological contexts and the Ebbsfleet hoards therefore pose a unparalleled opportunity to examine how and where such hoards were deposited.

In detail
Ebbsfleet Hoard I – details of the context and exact location of the Ebbsfleet Hoard I which was found on Ebbsfleet farm in 1893 are not known. Payne describes it as comprising 181 pieces which weighed about 60ib. and included ‘palstaves, socketed celts (axes) spearheads, portions of swords and celts, belt fasteners, (chape fittings) portion of a dagger, a knife and a quantity of ingots of copper’. This hoard is the largest one yet discovered on the Ebbsfleet peninsula.

Ebbsfleet Hoard II – this hoard is, in local terms, some distance from the recently discovered hoards, c. 450m to the north east. It comprised two axes and a possible socketed knife and was found by a metal detector user in 1991 at a depth of 0.325m in the sandy subsoil. One of the axes contained 42 small bronze ‘buttons’. While it is possible that the objects were disturbed by modern drainage, the context is similar to that of the EKA hoards discovered on the peninsula.

Ebbsfleet hoard III – the five items in this hoard were found in a mixture of reworked natural sand, at a depth of 0.8m in an area of 1m square. A cut feature such as a pit was not seen.

Ebbsfleet hoard IV – this hoard was found during mechanical excavation of an evaluation trench in 2004. There was no evidence for a cut feature an d the objects were in a thin layer or lense of dark soil towards the base of the subsoil. This layer was thought to be part of a midden.

Ebbsfleet hoard V – this hoard was found during the same evaluation in 2004. Again it was not in a cut feature, some objects were at the base of the subsoil and others at the interface between it and the underlying ‘midden’ deposit. It was suggested that the hoard may have been placed in a bag on the ground surface and covered with soil.

Ebbsfleet VI – there is some uncertainty as to whether this scatter of eight fragmentary objects comprises a hoard, but it is considered better to include in the hoard sequence than exclude it. The scatter was found during excavations in 2005 and is more or less equidistant from hoards IV and V. no complete or nearly complete objects were found and no items were associated.

Ebbsfleet Hoard VII – the first of those discovered during the east Kent access excavations in Zone 4, it was found in the subsoil and comprised 17 items.

Ebbsfleet VIII – the second of the two East Kent Access hoard and comprised two gold bracelets found next to each other in the sub soil of Zone 4.

It seems unlikely that all of the Ebbsfleet hoards were deposited in a single event. They form part of a wider pattern of large scale transport of scrap metal in south east England and the neighbouring regions of continental Europe and its deposition in hoards. The involvement of the people of Thanet in trade may explain the relatively high number of bronze objects from settlement related contexts. As one of the landfalls for the shortest channel crossings, the Ebbsfleet peninsula may have had a special role in this trade and also a ritual significance. (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

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