Monument record TQ 86 NE 160 - Mid - Late Bronze Age Field System, Iwade

A series of linear ditches, focused in excavation area A, and pits representing an enclosed field and trackway dating to the mid to late bronze age. The extent of the field boundaries probably extends beyond the excavation area. Quern stones and animal bones recovered indicate a mixed arable/pastoral economy. Although no evidence of a settlement was found, storage pits and hearths were, and unabraded potsherds, indicating that a settlement maybe located nearby. Two pits contained deliberately placed pots and two contained the fragmentary remains of near-complete vessels. It is believed that they were of a ritual nature.

A small amount of potsherds from the bronze age feature suggest that the settlement may have continued into the early iron age. Occupation seems to have then recommenced on the site in the late iron age (TQ 96 NW 103). (1)

A desk-based assessment of an adjacent site describes the features excavated in Area B as comprising Bronze Age ditch(es), pits (some of which contained urns), flints, and cremated human remains. Artefacts identified within the fills of some of these features included a copper alloy palstave and a quern stone. (2)

<1> Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2001, Phased Summary and Assessment Document of an Archaeological Excavation at Iwade Site A and Site B (West), Iwade (Unpublished document). SKE12309.

<2> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 2018, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment in Advance of the Proposed Development of Land Adjacent to Pond Farm, Grovehurst Road, Iwade, Kent. ME9 8RD (Unpublished document). SKE58147.