In 2014, Canterbury Archaeological Trust machine stripped, GIS mapped and archaeologically excavated a proposed development site at Turing College. 61 trenches were cut, and investigations revealed a late Bronze Age water hole, potentially of regional or national significance, and possibly contemporary with a group of late bronze age enclosure, pits, and cremation burials also found to the north-east of the same site. Late Bronze Age activity here was followed by the establishment of and Iron Age settlement on the site, though continuity between these two broad phases is unclear.

The water hole is understood to have been part of the wider agricultural landscape of the Stour Valley in the late Bronze Age, characterised by livestock management with intermittent small settlements.

The substantial water collecting pit was fully excavated and found to be sub-oval in shape, measuring over 2m in length and roughly 2.5m deep. The pit sides were steep, including a step to the south and reaching a flat base. The water hole contained the decayed remains of an in situ notch log ladder, used to access the water pit. This and a number of smaller timbers were successfully excavated.

The timbers were fragile and therefore assessed rapidly after discovery; samples were taken for dendrochronology and carbon 14 dating to attempt to provide increased date accuracy for the pit.

The feature contained a sequence of waterlogged deposits from deliberate infilling over various periods. One fill included a fragment of human skull, understood to have been deposited deliberately perhaps with organic material which does not survive. Along with this was a near intact pottery vessel, as yet undated.

A continuous monolith sample was extended through the deposits of the water hole and environmental bulk samples were maintained during excavation; these could contain preserved insect and beetle remains along with other environmental data such as pollen, seeds and grain. [1]

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Trust, 2014, Turing College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, Archaeological Excavation Interim Report (Unpublished document).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