Monument record TR 35 SE 875 - Later prehistoric field system, Church Lane, Deal

In 2013 Headland Archaeology carried out an evaluation. Ditches were found across the area, forming a field system broadly dated to the later prehistoric period. Neolithic and Bronze Age worked flints and abraded pottery were found distributed across the system. These finds are thought to be residual, resulting from the disturbance of earlier deposits during the agricultural activity of the later prehistoric. (1)

During several strip, map, and sample excavations and analysis carried out between 2014-2018 at the site, further evidence for the field systems was identified. This comprised ditches, gullies, alongside linear features forming land divisions and droveways. Several phases of activity were identified, comprising Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age, Roman and medieval.

The "Mid and Late Bronze Age field systems were characteristically uniform and rectangular, forming plots that adhered to an axial symmetry based on a northwest-southeast alignment. Parallel linear and concentric features that also appear within the Mid-Late Bronze Age field system may have acted as a series of drove ways, suggesting that the farming of livestock took place" (from the report, 2).

Pits dating from the Neolithic and Mid-Late Bronze Age were also identified. The Neolithic pits were found to contain large quantities of pottery, flint tools, and polished stone axe heads. Five Neolithic pits were interpreted (2) as having probably been used as grain silos. Analysis of these features indicated that cereal farming had taken place at the site durig the fourth millenium BC.

Other features identified during the excavation included pits and post-holes associated with several phases of activity at the site. Report not seen by HER so no further information. (information from a desk-based assessment of a nearby site, 2)

<1> Headland Archaeology, Church Lane, Deal, Kent: Results of an Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SKE25986.

<2> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 2019, Archaeological Desk-based Assessment In Relation To The Proposed Development Of Land At Church Lane, Deal, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE56528.