Monument record TQ 95 SW 176 - Bronze Age ring ditch, inhumation and cremation burials, Tanyard Farm, Lenham

A Bronze Age pennanular ring ditch from a barrow with associated inhumation burials, and a cremation urnfield were identified during an excavation carried out at Tanyard Farm, Lenham at some time between 2020-2023.

The ring ditch comprised a single circular ditch with an entrance to the west, within which another segment of semi-circular ditch was located. The ditches were seen to truncate a feature possibly formed from a series of intercutting pits, interpreted (1) as a possible earlier phase of the monument.

Two inhumation burials were associated with the ring ditch. One of these was a crouched male burial located in the centre of the ring ditch, suggesting that this was the primary burial over which a barrow had originally been constructed. Grave goods associated with the burial included a beaker pot and a possible pulley ring. The human remains were radiocarbon dated to 2204-2033 cal BC.
The other inhumation burial comprised that of a child under 9 years of age; this burial was located to the north of the male burial, but still within the circular space defined by the ring ditch. Sherds of pottery from a beaker pot were identified within the fill of the grave, however, the skeleton itself had been damaged as a result of later activity at the site during the Saxon period.

Six cremation burials formed a small urnfield to the south of the ring ditch. Both urned and un-urned cremations are present at the site. This area of the site was covered by several deposits interpreted (1) as material from the barrow. (summarised from the report, 1)

<1> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2023, Land at Tanyard Farm, Lenham, Kent Archaeological Post-excavation Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE58589.