Monument record TR 35 NW 951 - Early-middle Iron Age and Roman settlement features, Marshlands, Jubilee Road

Evidence for early-middle Iron Age and Roman settlement was identified at Marshlands, Jubilee Road during a 2017 evaluation carried out at the site. Features included probable buildings, a north-west/south-east aligned flint cobbled trackway, and two occupation deposits. Possible building remains related to two structures and included a floor surface made of compacted chalk, a post-pit and a bowl shaped pit, and burnt deposits which may have been hearths.

Large quantities of domestic rubbish including pottery, crudely worked flint, alongside an assemblage of animal remains (634 bones and 33 loose teeth weighing 17.06kg, including cattle, horse, dog, sheep and pig) were also recovered from across the site. The majority of meat bearing elements of bone were absent and there was evidence for butchery marks on many bones, suggesting that butchery took place in this area and that butchered meat was taken elsewhere for consumption.
Environmental analysis was carried out on a number of samples. Plant remains were poorly preserved, however, there was evidence for emmer wheat. Artefacts recovered during the analysis included burnt flint, magnetic material, and fragments of slag. The presence of slag in environmental samples and in deposits at the site indicated ironworking had taken place on or near the site.

Dating evidence indicated that the settlement was established during the early-mid Iron Age (600-300 BC) and continued into the mid Roman period, with Roman reuse of earlier features. The settlement is almost certainly part of a much larger Iron Age settlement site (TR 35 NW 27) which is known to exist across this area. The report (1) concludes that the quantity of domestic rubbish and artefactual remains indicate a settlement with 'numerous and prosperous' inhabitants. This site at Marshlands may have primarily functioned as a rubbish disposal site. (1)

<1> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 2017, Archaeological Evaluation On Land Adjacent To Marshlands, Jubilee Road, Worth, Near Sandwich, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE56802.