EVENT_NAME,EVENT_CODE,EVENT_TYPE,CONTRACTOR,DATE,GRID (NGR),PROJECT,COUNTY,DISTRICT,PARISH,SMR,SITE_TYPE,PERIOD,METHOD,PHASING,ENVIRO,FINDS,GEOLOGY,CONTEXT_NUM,THREAT,SAMPLE,SUMMARY,ARCHIVE,ACC_NUM
Stone Farm Bridleway,ARC SFB99,Excavation,Wessex Archaeology,6/8/99 - 6/8/01,615950 136950,,Kent,Shepway,Saltwood,,Settlement; Unenclosed settlement; Religious Ritual and Funerary; Field system; Cemetery,ENE; BA; IA; RB; EM; MD; PM; MO,"Archaeological features were identified as shallow cuts into the surface of the natural in-situ geology. During the course of the work hand-excavated sections through identified archaeological deposits and/or features were investigated and recorded to the standards of current best practice, including a full graphic and photographic record.","Many pre-modern datable artefacts were recovered, providing sufficient evidence to suggest at least Early Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age, Romano-British, Saxon, medieval and post-medieval activity at the Site. At present the Mid-Late Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age periods are not coherently represented in the Site finds assemblage.","A representative subset of disturbed bulk samples (representing c. 19% of the total bulk samples obtained) was processed. The samples were processed from a range of Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age/Romano-British, Saxon, medieval and undated feature types for the recovery and assessment of charred plant remains and charcoals. The samples generally produced small flots (average flot size for a 10 litre sample is 60 millilitres) with between 5 – 60% rooty material and varying quantities of uncharred weed seeds, which may be indicative of stratigraphic movement.","The finds assemblage recovered from the excavation consists of a range of material types including moderate quantities of pottery. The potential date range of material recovered is early prehistoric to post-medieval, and includes grave goods (mainly metalwork, with some glass, amber and stone) from Saxon graves, as well as two complete pottery vessels from Early Iron Age graves. The pottery assemblage (1,187 sherds) in particular consists mainly of material of later prehistoric and Romano-British date, with small quantities of medieval and post-medieval pottery. There is also a small but significant group of early prehistoric (Early Neolithic) material, but the complete absence of pottery dating to the Saxon period may be noted.","The underlying solid geology comprises Cretaceous Lower Greensand Folkestone Beds, part of a bedded sequence of strata that incline by approximately 5° from south to north, forming the sloping surface of the plateau on which the Site is situated. Immediately north of the M20 cutting, the geological incline has resulted in the formation of a shallow valley, corresponding to the outcrop of softer Gault Clay that actually overlies the Folkestone Beds. Approximately 1.2 km north of the Site is the south-facing scarp slope of the Lower Chalk, forming the abrupt ridge of the North Downs.",1887,"Development.  Construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link will destroy all archaeological remains, and impact severely on Pre-Holocene deposits.",100,"Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Union Railways (South) Ltd (URS) to undertake an excavation on land east of the Stone Farm bridleway, north of the village of Saltwood, Kent, centred on NGR grid point TR 15950 36950. Overall, 192 features were identified, including 74 ditches, 54 pits and/or post-holes, 49 graves or suspected graves, one hollow-way, one ring ditch (barrow), one grubenhaus, and one confirmed and one suspected ‘sub-square enclosure’. Dating evidence indicates Early Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age, Romano-British, Saxon and Saxo-Norman activity in the immediate area. The Early Neolithic evidence is significant for the area, and possibly Kent as a whole, in that it appears to represent a small focus of settlement activity, with a relatively substantial assemblage of artefacts and ecofacts (including crop-processing debris) recovered from two adjacent pits. It may be significant that the Early Bronze Age barrows, part of a larger east to west aligned cemetery of at least five such monuments, were constructed in the immediate vicinity of these earlier pits. The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age periods witness the development and expansion of an associated field system, focussed on and respecting the barrow(s) where observed, with settlement apparently focussed adjacent to Stone Farm Bridleway. In addition, a number of burials of probable Early Iron Age date were also identified, primarily located on the east side of the earlier barrow. By the Late Iron Age and into the Romano-British period a system of hollow-ways and tracks develop that may suggest an associated settlement centre was located to the south of the Site, perhaps on the higher ground overlooking the present-day village of Saltwood. The hollow-ways appear to align on the Bronze Age barrows as markers, with three such routes bypassing close by each barrow (including the present-day route of Stone Farm Bridleway). Similarly, the Saxon evidence is clearly focussed on the Bronze Age barrows (and hollow-way network) with at least 2 discrete inhumation cemeteries recorded either on or in close proximity to the barrows to the east of the bridleway. The burials contain grave goods such as jewellery (beads, brooches etc.), weapons (knives, spears and swords), shields and other objects (i.e. chatelaines, glass drinking vessels, etc.). Only a single Saxon building (grubenhaus) was recorded. Small assemblages of early medieval pottery, associated with fish bone, an articulated dog skeleton and shellfish (midden deposits?) have been recovered from a small number of pits, again adjacent to the barrow. It is therefore possible that any Saxon settlement continues in the area into the early medieval period, although little evidence was recovered to suggest such settlement persisted throughout the medieval period.","Currently stored at Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 6EB.",










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