Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During the East Kent Access Route excavations (2009-2011) a number of Roman ditches, enclosures and boundary ditches were discovered. These mostly relate to a field system running north-south and east-west across zone 11 of the East Kent Access Route. Several features were located in and around the field system including post built structures and pits etc. Finds included Roman pottery, animal bone, shell, copper alloy brooches, a glass bead, an iron knife, nails, brick and tile. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• BOUNDARY DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• CREMATION (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• ENCLOSURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FIELD SYSTEM (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• POST BUILT STRUCTURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• POST HOLE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• BEAD (Undated)
• TILE (Undated)
• POT (Middle Bronze Age - 1500 BC to 1150 BC)
• BAG (Late Iron Age - 100 BC to 42 AD)
• BROOCH (Late Iron Age - 100 BC to 42 AD)
• BROOCH (Late Iron Age - 100 BC to 42 AD)
• POT (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 BC to 65 AD)
• POT (Late Iron Age to Roman - 1 AD to 50 AD)
• POT (Late Iron Age to Roman - 1 AD to 50 AD)
• POT (Late Iron Age to Roman - 1 AD to 65 AD)
• POT (Late Iron Age to Roman - 5 AD to 61 AD)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BRICK (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BROOCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• KNIFE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• NAIL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Full description

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At the southern end of Zone 11 the sequence of probable enclosure ditches that had its origin in the Iron Age continued with at least 18 ditches of Roman date. All followed the same, slightly curving north south alignment over a total distance of at least 160m, extending beyond the limit of excavations to the north west and south west. The largest ditches were approximately 3m wide and 2m deep. The majority of the ditches contained a mixture Iron Age pottery and pottery that could only be broadly dated to the Roman period. the boundary was clearly continually re established though it appears that the main temporal focus of activity was in the earlier Roman period. it is unclear what the ditches were enclosing but it was presumably a site of some importance, and may have been focussed on a slight knoll lying within the arable field to the west of the excavated area.
Within the central and northern areas of Zone 11 was a series of generally shallow ditches that formed a field system which probably incorporated several enclosures or paddocks. The ditches of the system were orientated broadly N-S and E-W and extended up the scarp slope from the complex of enclosure ditched on the west side of the zone. The field system ditches overlay various ditches of Middle-Late Iron Age date. The field system probably extended into the eastern arm of Zone 11 where it was represented by three ditches though precisely how the two areas of systems related to each other is unclear as they lay 100m apart and there were not ditches linking them. An isolated cremation burial was discovered in one of the fields. A middle Roman chalk surface which was cut by a hearth, which may represent the site of a building was discovered in the northern arm of Zone 11. Two square enclosures were located 50m to the north of this chalk surface. further south again was a series of post holes representing the site of a small building measuring 12.8m by 6.1m, possibly with some agricultural function. (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