Monument record TR 36 SW 471 - Early Bronze Age Barrow 4 - Cliffsend Farm, Ramsgate, Thanet
Summary
Location
Grid reference | Centred TR 3481 6426 (19m by 18m) |
---|---|
Map sheet | TR36SW |
County | KENT |
District | THANET, KENT |
Civil Parish | CLIFFSEND, THANET, KENT |
Map
Type and Period (1)
Full Description
Barrow four was situated to the east of barrow one, it had three ditches. While the inner and middle ditches could have formed complete arcs without intersecting with the outer ditch of barrow 1, the outer ditches of both could not have formed complete circuits at the same time. There is some suggestion that the outer ditch of barrow 4 did not form a complete circuit, suggesting a chronological primacy for barrow 1. The inner ditch was 0.6m wide at the top, 0.25m wide at the base and 0.15m deep. The single fill contained no finds the complete circuit seems to have described a slightly flattened circle, 10.42m across from north to south and approximately 10.9m across from east-west. The middle ditch was 1.15m wide at the top with relatively steep sides and a flat base between 0.25m and 0.4m wide, the maximum surviving depth was 0.6m. no material was recovered from any of the fills. Only a portion of the south eastern arc could be traced on the ground, but if originally complete then the ditch would have had an external diameter of 17.86m. On the eastern side of the outer ditch, a terminal formed the southern side of a entrance, similar to Barrows 2 and 3. At this point the ditch was a broad, shallow V shape, 1.82m wide and surviving to a depth of 0.62m, 1.3m to the south the ditch had broadened slightly to 2m and changed in profile to become a flat bottomed, almost vertical sided feature, 0.82m deep and 0.7m wide at the base. Towards the western end the profile had reverted to a shallow V-shape, 1.1m wide and only 0.44m deep, suggesting that another terminal may have lain to the west. However it is not certain that the ditch continued to the west. At the point where it could no longer be traced on the surface it deviated from circular, turning slightly to the north and it is probable that barrow 4 was only encircled by this outer ditch on its eastern side, since barrow 1 was already standing to the west, leaving insufficient space for a complete third circuit of ditch on that side. off centre within the inner ditch was a sub rectangular pit, probably a grave, aligned southwest to northeast. The pit was 1.66m long by 1m wide and survived to only 0.16m in depth. There were indications that a post stood at each corner of the pit, possibly supporting a timber mortuary structure, as in the centre of barrow 2 and perhaps 3. A single fill contained only a small amount of struck flint. (information summarised from sources) (1-4)
<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, Cliffs End Farm, Ramsgate, Kent: Archaeological Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SKE13692.
<2> Jacqueline I. McKinley, Jörn Schuster and Andrew Millard, 2013, Dead-sea connections: A Bronze Age and Iron Age ritual site on the Isle of Thanet (Bibliographic reference). SKE24068.
<3> Wessex Archaeology, 2014, Cliffs End Farm, Isle of Thanet, Kent: a mortuary and ritual site of the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon period (Bibliographic reference). SKE30562.
<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2004, Cliffs End Farm, Ramsgate, Kent: archaeological evaluation report (Unpublished document). SKE30563.
Sources/Archives (4)
- <1> SKE13692 Unpublished document: Wessex Archaeology. 2005. Cliffs End Farm, Ramsgate, Kent: Archaeological Assessment Report.
- <2> SKE24068 Bibliographic reference: Jacqueline I. McKinley, Jörn Schuster and Andrew Millard. 2013. Dead-sea connections: A Bronze Age and Iron Age ritual site on the Isle of Thanet.
- <3> SKE30562 Bibliographic reference: Wessex Archaeology. 2014. Cliffs End Farm, Isle of Thanet, Kent: a mortuary and ritual site of the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon period.
- <4> SKE30563 Unpublished document: Wessex Archaeology. 2004. Cliffs End Farm, Ramsgate, Kent: archaeological evaluation report.
Finds (0)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (3)
- Event Boundary: Archaeological evaluation at Cliffs End Farm, Thanet, 2004 (EKE13915)
- Intrusive Event: Excavation at Cliffs End Farm, Ramsgate (Ref: 56950.04) (EKE23067)
- Event Boundary: Excavation at Cliffs End Farm, Ramsgate, 2004-5 (Ref: 56950.04) (EKE9955)
Record last edited
Apr 22 2024 5:40PM