Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A large Romano-British pit containing pottery, flint implements and animal bones was found between St Peter's and Reading Street in the later 19th century. The date of discovery was thought to be around 1868, near St. Peter's Church. Amongst other finds at the site were a large vessel with a handle (a dolium) and a Samian dish stamped PATERCLINI.OF now in the British Museum probably belongs to the burial. Lumps of baked clay and 30 small pellets were found along with an iron nail and some charcoal.

Monument Types

• BURIAL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• PIT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• BOWL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• NAIL (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• VESSEL (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)

Full description

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Between St Peter's and Reading Street, an oval pit, 40ft x 30ft x 1ft greatest depth, was cleaned out by Lane Fox who found Roman pottery, mainly Upchurch ware, flint implements and animal bones. (1) Much of the area between St. Peter's and Reading St. was developed in the later C19th. No further information could be gained in the local museums and libraries. (2) "In 1868, Roman potsherds, worked flints, and animal bones had been dug out of a shallow pit near St. Peter's Church (TR 3868); and with these may be mentioned a large vessel with a handle (a dolium) found in St. Peter's parish; a Samian dish stamped PATERCLINI.OF found in a grave near Margate in 1868 and now in the Britsih Museum probably belongs to the burial." (3) Pit (included in a list of shafts, pits and wells of clear ritual significance) 30 feet by 40 feet across the top and 11 feet deep. At a depth of 7 ft. from the surface in the centre of the pit, two lumps of baked clay and 30 small pellets were found. Other finds consisted of a flint implement, flint flakes, animal bones (representing only one animal of each kind), an iron nail, some charcoal and small fragments of Romano-British pottery, with no samian. (4)

The evidence for the site was re-appraised as part of the RCHME project to record industry and enclosure in the Neolithic. The pit was uncovered during Brickearth digging in September 1868, and subsequently investigated by Lane Fox, who was in Thanet at the time. Initial excavation, as noted in authority 1, revealed a rather confused jumble of prehistoric and Roman artefacts plus animal bones and other items within the backfill of the pit. Lane Fox initially took the Roman potsherds to represent the primary dating evidence for the pit, and suggested that the flint implements, which included cores and a leaf-shaped arrowhead, were contemporary with this pottery. The pit, he argued, had been dug in order to obtain flint. However, he subsequently retracted these views in a brief account which appears to have been missed by subsequent writers including Ross (authority 4, cited above). A follow-up excavation demonstrated that the pit was of rather more recent origin, with the artefacts residual components in its fill. Lane Fox proposed instead that the feature was a dene hole, although his discussion of the site suggests that he had none too clear an idea of what a dene hole actually was. It seems more likely that the feature was a marl pit, a suggestion made in 1881 by Spurrell. (5-8)

<1> J. Ethn. Soc. NS 1, 1868-9, 8-10 (A. Lane-Fox) (OS Card Reference). SKE44824.

<2> F1 CFW 19-NOV-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42651.

<3> V.C.H. Kent 3, 1932, 161 (Jessup & Taylor) (OS Card Reference). SKE50738.

<4> Studies in Ancient Europe Ed. Coles & Simpson 1968, 257, 266 (A. Ross) (OS Card Reference). SKE49704.

<5> Journal of the Ethnological Soc. 1, 1868-9, 1-12 (OS Card Reference). SKE45028.

<6> Field report for monument TR 36 NE 23 - November, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6162.

<7> Mark Bowden, 1991, Pitt Rivers : the life and work of Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (Monograph). SKE55465.

<8> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1881, The Archaeological Journal (Article in serial). SKE55466.

Sources and further reading