North Foreland, Broadstairs
North Foreland Hill is situated on the North Eastern tip of the Isle of Thanet, with clear views northward across the mouth of the Thames Estuary and eastward towards the English Channel.
The archaeological potential of the site is documented in Archaeologia Cantiana with references in 1877 to huge flint foundations that are probably Roman and in 1957 to a crop mark of a Bronze Age Barrow. Rescue excavations carried out in 1979 and 1993 during the construction of houses on North Foreland Avenue indicated that at least one barrow and Iron Age settlement features survive beneath the North Foreland Estate.
By the mid 1980s the extent of settlement at North Foreland was recognised. Routine aerial photography by Thanet Archaeological Society exposed crop marks of Bronze Age Barrows and a settlement enclosed by ditches, possibly an Iron Age Hill fort. Small scale excavation by Thanet Archaeological Society in 1995 proved a Mid - Late Iron Age date for the enclosing ditches.
In 1999 an excavation in advance of a housing development at the former St Stephen's College Site was carried out by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology and Canterbury Archaeological Trust. The excavations uncovered the remains of a Late Neolithic - Early Bronze Age burial landscape and the interior of the Iron Age enclosed settlement or Hill fort. The Late Neolithic - Early Bronze Age features included a causewayed barrow containing two central burials, and the crouched burial of a child cut into the base of the barrow ditch. The child's grave had been capped with a large fragment of whale rib. Two other barrows were excavated, one of which contained further human burials. This barrow had a large grave cut at the centre with a smaller secondary burial and is associated with a small cemetery of five flat graves containing crouched burials.
The interior of the enclosed settlement provided evidence of Early to Late Iron Age activity including part of a small Middle - Late Iron Age rectangular enclosure with at least six four-post structures. To the east of the enclosure was a concentration of large pits probably used to store grain but later backfilled with midden material, while to the north west a small pit was excavated containing a hoard of 64 Late Iron Age coins.
[fg]jpg|Above: Crop marks facing east across North Foreland and left: Iron Age burial found in rubbish pit.|Image[/fg]
[pg2]eturned to the site again in 2003 to excavate a previously unexposed area of the settlement and to strip and map most of the remaining portion of the sub rectangular enclosure ditch and its immediate vicinity. A number of pits and postholes were excavated to the west and south of the enclosure. One large pit may have been used for mixing daub for use within wattle structures. The remains of clay and chalk silt with rod impressions were excavated from the bottom of this pit. This same pit was partially backfilled with midden material and then used for the burial of an adult female with two jet and a single faience bead at her neck.
The discovery of human remains at North Foreland can provide insight into both the sacred and secular aspects of Iron Age life, death and regeneration. This evidence is further supported by the discovery of a horse bridle bit and an inverted bovine skull within other smaller pits nearby. Such discoveries have commonly been interpreted as representing ceremonial offerings at other contemporary settlement locations.
In another large pit tool marks on the sides have suggested that a metal implement, possibly an adze, was used to cut these deep features. Similar tool marks have been found in pits on sites such as Danebury. Due to the importance of this discovery casts have been taken which will enable further research to be conducted. The discovery of a large post hole at the base of the pit appears to be unparalleled at North Foreland and may have contained a structure linked to some totemic purpose.
Further work is expected on this important site and research will continue to provide more information on the organisation and activities of the North Foreland settlement.