Monument record TR 26 NE 1291 - Three small Iron Age enclosures - Plateau 8 Thanet Earth

Summary

Three irregular ring ditches of a likely Iron Age date were identified during excavations on Plateau 8 of Thanet Earth. The function of these features is not known, it has been suggested that one may represent the site of a round house. Another idea is that they may have some funerary/ritual function such as excarnation sites of places for ritual feasting. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Location

Grid reference Centred TR 2893 6727 (30m by 98m) (6 map features)
Map sheet TR26NE
County KENT
District THANET, KENT
Civil Parish ST NICHOLAS AT WADE, THANET, KENT

Map

Type and Period (2)

Full Description

Three irregular ring ditches of a likely Iron Age date were identified during excavations on Plateau 8 of Thanet Earth. Sub-circular Enclosure 1 was the most southerly as well as being the smallest with a diameter of approximately 5.5m. It was very shallow, generally less than 0.1m deep with a gently sloping profile and concave base. The fill, a fine clay silt, appeared to represent material washed in by natural erosion though a few very small pieces of early Iron Age pot were recovered. The cut was suggestive of the drip gully more usually associated with a round-house, however, the small size, slightly irregular shape and lack of internal features suggests that this was not the case. Sub-circular Enclosure 2 (G8060) was slightly larger at 9m in diameter and lay 80m to the north close to the site boundary, and the eastern limit of the settlement. It comprised a sub-oval ring-gully approximately 0.9 m wide and 0.22m deep with moderately sloping sides and a concave base. s filled by a single deposit of clay silt that contained a large quantity of domestic rubbish including large quantities of daub and pottery of the early to middle Iron Age. The daub was very similar to that identified in several nearby post holes, and could imply the presence of an ancillary structure perhaps demolished as the ring ditch fell into disuse. Two post-holes were identified in the south-east portion of the ring-ditch. Set approximately 2m apart. Four features (pits and a post hole) were inside this enclosure, though whether these directly related to it remains debatable. The third enclosure located 17m to the west of the buried valley, again close to the eastern edge of the settlement. This was sub-oval measuring 5.9m wide, 7.5m long and between 0.4–0.6m deep. The ring-ditch lay on an approximate north–south axis with steeply sloping sides that broke to a flat base. The fill, a homogenous deposit of clay silt suggested that the feature had been backfilled as a single event. The feature is cut by a large storage pit which would seem to indicate that Enclosure 3 had gone out of use before occupation within the main settlement had ceased.

The function of these features is not known, they may have had ritual connotations, though the evidence is far from clear. In particular, Sub-circular enclosure 2 is similar in size to several of the smaller round-houses. One suggestion is that these features formed enclosed excarnation platforms, a process that remains somewhat obscure at Thanet Earth but has been inferred by the presence disarticulated bone elsewhere. An alternative function can perhaps be argued for Sub-circular enclosure 3. Here, the backfilled ditch contained a comparatively large assemblage of finds with the animal bone of particular interest. Alongside the normal cattle bones, the assemblage included pig, horse, dog and hare bone. While interpretation must remain speculative, one suggestion that may explain this concentration of bone is that the feature related to ritual feasting. (1) ( information summarised from source)


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

Sources/Archives (1)

  • <1>XY Monograph: Canterbury Archaeological Trust. 2023. Beneath the Seamark: 6000 Years of an Islands History. [Mapped feature: #111522 ring ditches, ]

Finds (2)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

  • Event Boundary: Excavations at Thanet Earth 2007-2008 (EKE14749)

Record last edited

Jun 26 2023 4:15PM