Monument record TR 15 NW 2561 - Late Bronze Age Enclosure, Pits, and Cremation Group, Turing College

In 2014, Canterbury Archaeological Trust machine stripped, GIS mapped and archaeologically excavated a proposed development site at Turing College. 61 trenches were cut, 44 of which revealed archaeological features. Investigations revealed late Bronze Age Activity on the site, including pits, pottery assemblages and a group of cremation burials, possibly related to the rare late Bronze Age water hole also found to the south east of the excavation area. This activity was followed by the establishment of and Iron Age settlement on the site, though continuity between these two broad phases is unclear.
A large, irregular pit containing greyish red clay with common flint debitage, flakes and pottery inclusions was found connected to the north-eastern edge of a possible small enclosure or structure, 4.7m by 7m in size at maximum. The potential enclosure is made up of short, narrow ditch segments.
Close to this distinctive pit were a further nine smaller pits, with some containing large quantities of pottery.
Four cremation burials provisionally dated to the late Bronze Age-early Iron Age transition period. A total of fourteen sub-circular cuts were found, two of which held 2 large burial urns containing in situ cremated remains, and a further two of which held uncontained cremated remains. Six of the remaining cuts yielded significant charcoal inclusions, which may indicate the systematic deposit of cremated pyre material. 15m to the southwest, a large pit also contained significant amounts of charcoal inclusions. Nearby post holes could indicate that the assemblage lay within a four post structure, roughly square in shape, and the burials may also have been surrounded by a roughly circular pit arrangement. [1]

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2014, Turing College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, Archaeological Excavation Interim Report (Unpublished document). SKE32552.