An Iron Age barrow was uncovered at the eastern side of plateau 8 during the Thanet Earth excavations. It had been cut into an earlier infilled quarry complex and was represented by a small annular ring-ditch about 4.7m external diameter, with the ditch itself measuring 0.70m wide and 0.47m deep with steeply sloping sides and a pointed, concave base. The ring-ditch enclosed a sub-rectangular grave containing a burial consisting of two carefully positioned articulated inhumations both male and aged between 26–38 years. A radiocarbon date obtained from this burial ranged from 353–112 cal BC. Arranged on an approximate north-west to south-east alignment, the first lay on the left side of the grave, with the body lying in a supine position. The head was positioned at the east end of the grave, facing south toward the other skeleton, with the right arm lying on the sternum and the hand by the shoulder of the second burial. The second inhumation was flexed, though the upper half lay in a slightly more flexed position, with the head again lying at the east end of the grave, facing towards to other inhumation. Notable in this case was the twisting of the head and a fallen mandible, perhaps indicating that the body decomposed in a void. Of note was the shared non metric traits perhaps suggesting a familial relationship.

A second grave containing the bodies of a young female aged between 12–19 years in a good state of preservation, and perinatal baby, was located outside the ring-ditch 1.2m to the north-east. Absolute dating provided a date of 370–167 cal BC (2183 ± 32 UBA 22933) for this inhumation, indicating that they and burials associated with the ring ditch were broadly contemporary, with the location of the ring-ditch probably influencing the positioning of this burial. That the young female died in childbirth was indicated by the associated perinatal baby aged 38–40 weeks. (1) (information summarised from source)

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