A sunken-featured building (SFB 1) was located 6m north of Trackway 25 (in the central northern area of Plateau 2) and consisted of a rectangular cut, associated post-settings and internal features. The cut was c. 8.5m long, 4.4m wide and 0.40m deep, with rounded corners, steep, slightly concave sides and a generally flat although in places, undulating base. Aligned roughly ENE–WSW the building would seem to mirror the alignment of the trackway. The northern and southern sides were straight, although slight indentations were noted toward the base indicating possible beam-slots or post settings. The worn remains of low steps were located just off-centre along its southern side, bordered by two postholes possibly representing a door frame. The post-holes were filled by deposits of clay silt from which small quantities of animal bone and pottery (c. AD 150–175) were recovered. A number of internal features were also present: a shallow pit and gully, a stake-hole alignment seven other post-settings around the northern, eastern and southern sides. It seems likely considering their position that these features had a structural function. Also contained in the building were three probable hearths each positioned around the edges of the structure. It is possible that the three hearths were contemporary, but as there were no stratigraphic relationships between them this remains unclear. Three external post-settings were also present, two on the northern edge of the building (another doorway?) one towards its south-eastern corner. The cut was backfilled with deposit sequence which yielded pottery (mostly of the mid to late second century AD), ceramic building material, a fragment of quernstone and a honestone together with small quantities of grain and marine shell. Some of the internal features also produced pottery (in smaller amounts than the main backfill), marine shell and animal bone. Virtually all of the pottery assemblage from this sunken-featured building was of Roman date and the location and orientation of the structure (adjacent and parallel to Trackway 25) strongly suggest a Roman origin. Further, its position does not readily correspond with the usual locations and arrangement of the prominent medieval sunken-featured buildings which tend to be aligned along ditches and associated enclosures. Two out of three probable hearths in SFB 1 produced cereal grains, chaff fragments and weed seeds of a very similar character to the IA rubbish deposits in the pits on Plateau 8. Spelt wheat, possible bread-type wheat and barley were representedIf the samples are representative of the types of waste being burnt in the hearths they appear to have been used to de-husk grain on a small scale. (1) (information summarised from source)

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