A large depression which though natural in origin was subsequently modified and utilised during the early Bronze Age period and perhaps later, probably as a ‘pond barrow’.

It was located just above the 27m OD contour, 233m south of Barrow 6 and 182m north-west of Barrow 5 and was set within a larger solution hollow or doline. No obvious periglacial disturbance of the exposed sediments was apparent, suggesting that this particular natural feature may have formed during the Holocene (or its final phase of infilling was completed within the Holocene); whatever its exact date it was clearly visible as a depression by the earlier Bronze Age. At some point following silting, the hollow (now reduced to a diameter of about 20m), was modified to create a smooth concave based bowl (via presumed removal of vegetation and any uneven elements) and then lined with gravel, including some quite large pieces of flint. Most of this material would have been available in the wider locality. Its purposeful deposition is confirmed by its evenness and because a small proportion of the flint comprised burnt and fire cracked material. Although there was no other associated artefactual evidence within the surface, silts directly above produced an assemblage of hard-hammer struck worked flints. The metalling was cut by a small pit containing re-deposited material from a hearth, the only feature found within the depression. A sample of charcoal from this dated to 1921–1625 cal BC. The ‘placed’ nature of a palstave axe just above the metalling level provides evidence for the continued significance of the feature in the middle Bronze Age.

This feature shares similarities with several other pond barrow sites. For exciple, the dating of the Thanet Earth feature is consistent with evidence from pond barrows elsewhere and the flint metalling at Thanet Earth is comparable to metalled pond barrows at Pampisford, Cambridgeshire, Monkton Up Wimborne, Dorset, Peacehaven, East Sussex, possibly at Berinsfield, and at Great Western Park, Didcot. The worked flints recovered from hand cleaning onto the metalled surface within the Thanet Earth hollow and the valuable middle Bronze Age palstave axe deposited a few centimetres above the metalling may be significant. Certainly the continued deposition of artefacts into the middle Bronze Age at these sites is likely to confirm their ongoing relevance as ‘open arenas’. The Thanet Earth example was set within a landscape with numerous ring-ditch defined barrow monuments. At least three probably earlier barrows were located within eyesight of the possible pond barrow, as well as the two probably middle Bronze Age examples just to the west. Interestingly, but perhaps coincidentally, the feature was almost exactly due south of Barrow 6, but more specifically, in a precisely similar topographical position in relation to the north-south aligned ridge that divides the two shallow valleys in the northern part of the site. This zone it has been noted, seems to be chosen quite frequently for the emplacement of ritual monuments and features.

Regardless of the above, the Thanet Earth feature does exhibit differences with aspects of other examples of features interpreted as pond barrows. For example no associated post-hole structures were found within the Thanet Earth monument. Perhaps more significantly no burial evidence of any form was found directly associated with the Thanet Earth pond barrow. There remains the possibility that the feature was specifically metalled for use as a stock watering hole. This seems rather unlikely though as there was no evidence that the thin metalling had been disturbed by stock hooves and it was not robust enough to withstand cattle trampling.

Following its ritual use an open arena, it is possible that the pond barrow remained open and may well have been utilized for the purpose of stock watering during the middle to late Bronze Age. (1) (information summarised from source)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2023, Beneath the Seamark: 6000 Years of an Islands History (Monograph). SKE55405.