Tothill Street
The Isle of Thanet continues to provide exciting new archaeological discoveries. It was unsurprising, therefore, that excavation by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust in advance of the first phase of a new roadside services at the A253 Minster Roundabout revealed a wealth of remains. Commissioned by BDS Management Services on behalf of their clients Somerfield, the Trust stripped topsoil from a 2-hectare area to reveal funerary remains from the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods, and an extensive and long-lived Iron Age settlement.
Although earlier finds, including a polished axe and hammer stones, were found, the earliest feature exposed was a substantial Bronze Age barrow which had been left for excavation during a future phase of development. Aerial photographs of the site, which lies close to one of the highest points on Thanet, show this barrow’s part of a N-S/E-W alignment, following the slope of the hill, with two further barrows lying to the east of the site.
A single crouched inhumation, thought to be of Early Bronze Age date, was found buried in a shallow pit. The skeleton was in poor condition but appears to be that of an adult. A jet bracelet or armlet was recovered in situ along with an amber bead, and a second bead fashioned from a polished fossil sponge with an elephant tusk shell placed through it.
In the northwest corner of the site, part of a large Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age quarry pit was found excavated into the chalk, probably to retrieve flint. The fills within this quarry suggest it had been infilled with windblown sand, soil and stones containing pottery, animal bone and multi-phase shale objects, all dating to the Early Iron Age. A small iron bar buried beneath the chalk backfill in the pit.
To the Middle Iron Age, the northwest-eastern quarter of the site appears to be Iron Age settlement, with the construction of a large sub-rectangular ditched enclosure with internal dimensions varying between 30m and 35m. The enclosure ditches had been constructed in at least two phases and greatly varied in depth. Provisional dating of the pottery suggests a date of c. 500 – c. 300/100 BC, however, there are several phases and activity within the enclosure may have extended into the later part of this period.
A wide south entrance led into an interior packed with features, mainly pits and post-holes, with the greatest concentration being on the east side. A second entrance, later blocked, was found on the northwest side. Just outside this entrance was a pit in which a human skull and other very fragmented bone had been placed. Human bone was also found within the fills of the enclosure ditches.
Two substantial buildings occupied the southern half of the enclosure. In the south-western corner a post-built rectangular structure, measuring 13 by 7.5m was found. Eaves drip gullies aided the inside for internal partitioning and both internal and external flint surfacing. The building in the southeast corner of the enclosure appears to be a sunken-floored structure, a construction type which is being increasingly recognised in Thanet sites. Sub-rectangular or oval in shape, the building measured roughly 8m by 5m. Several post-holes were found in the base of the feature, including two large sagged post-holes at the longer ends. There was no direct evidence for a hearth but the chalk in one corner appeared to be discoloured by exposure to heat. Two pits at opposite corners of the structure contained refuse material including mussel shell and animal bone, charcoal-rich deposits and loom weights. There is some evidence for several stages of modification of the building and a continuation of flint and daub sealing the feature may derive from its collapsed superstructure.
[fg]jpg|TOP: The jet bracelet or armlet. ABOVE: Polished axe found on the site.|Image[/fg]
To the east of the main enclosure, a second smaller subrectangular enclosure, provisionally dated to the Middle Iron Age was found. The enclosure, which was approximately 18m in diameter, had a south-west facing entrance. Although groups of [pg3]pits and post-holes were found within it, no clear building pattern could be identified.
Outside the enclosures, post-hole alignments indicated further buildings and fence lines. In particular, the partial remains of a ring ditch and post structure, which encircled a flint surface containing pottery, quern fragments and burnt stone, may indicate an industrial area. Other features included a range of pits containing refuse material, including fragments of possible sword moulds. Three small pits contained possible ‘placed’ deposits, including a copper alloy brooch, partial deer skulls with antler still attached, and a near-complete pottery vessel.
Towards the end of the Iron Age, a small inhumation cemetery developed at the Tothill Street end of the site, provisionally dated on the basis of a single pottery vessel to between c. 100 BC to AD 50. Eleven graves were excavated and it is expected that the cemetery extended west and east outside the limits of the excavation. It was noted that a chalk ‘ridge’ formed the southern boundary, and that ten of the graves were aligned perpendicular to its line, while the eleventh was parallel to it. This suggests that the ridge was a conspicuous landscape feature in the Late Iron Age and formed a boundary. Bone was well preserved in all of the graves, and in one, larger than the rest, the outline of a coffin and its iron nails could be distinguished.
This first phase of excavation at Tothill Street has again demonstrated the rich archaeological resource that lies buried on the Isle of Thanet and suggests that many more important and exciting discoveries will be made during later phases.
Adrian Gollop,
Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Simon Mason,
Principal Archaeology Officer,
Heritage Conservation,
Kent County Council