A rare find was made in 2012 when a metal-detectorist on land near Bridge, a few miles south of Canterbury, Kent, recovered a copper alloy brooch, other metal items, and a quantity of burnt bone contained in a near complete, probably imported Gallic, helmet of Iron Age type. Excavation was undertaken to ascertain the immediate context of the helmet, confirm that it represented a cremation burial, and determine if it formed part of a larger funerary deposit. The helmet and brooch suggest a burial date in the mid-1st century BC and the apparently isolated cremation burial, of a possibly female adult, can be broadly placed within the AylesfordûSwarling tradition; the helmet taking the place of a more usual pottery cinerary urn. Cropmark evidence suggests that the burial was made within a wider landscape of Iron Age occupation (Farley et al. 2014). <1>

Grave Goods Project grave types: Pit x 1

Grave Goods Project human remains: Cremation x 1

<1> University of Manchester, 21/06/2018, Grave Goods Project: test data migration, 72836 (Machine readable data file). SKE51586.