| Abstract: |
124 trial trenches, each originally measuring 30 m in length and 2.1 m wide, were excavated in level spits using a 360º excavator equipped with a toothless bucket, under the constant supervision and instruction of the monitoring archaeologist. Machine excavation proceeded until either the archaeological horizon or the natural geology was exposed. Where necessary, the base of the trench/surface of archaeological deposits were cleaned by hand. A sample of archaeological features and deposits was hand-excavated, sufficient to address the aims of the evaluation. Spoil from machine stripping and hand-excavated archaeological deposits was visually scanned for the purposes of finds retrieval. Artefacts were collected and bagged by context. All artefacts from excavated contexts were retained. Based on the results of this trial trench evaluation five areas, totalling 0.66 ha, were targeted for subsequent investigation through archaeological excavation under Wessex Archaeology project code 235881. The excavations were undertaken in accordance with a written scheme of investigation (WSI), which detailed the aims, methodologies and standards to be employed for the fieldwork and post-excavation work (Wessex Archaeology 2022b). Kent County Council’s Heritage Conservation Team (KCC HCT) approved the WSI, on behalf of the Local Planning Authority (LPA), prior to the fieldwork. Please see Wessex Archaeology report ref:253882.1 for further excavation methodology. The evaluation was undertaken between 21st February to 23th March 2022 and the excavation fieldwork was undertaken between 4th July and 16th August 2022. A Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age ditch, initially recorded during the trial trenching, was more fully exposed and investigated, although no contemporary remains were identified. Another less closely dated but nevertheless late prehistoric (c. late 2nd–1st millennium BC) ditch was exposed 190 m to the south; this may, very tentatively, have formed part of a trackway along with two further, inconclusively dated sections of ditch. Other traces of prehistoric activity were limited to a very sparse assemblage of chronologically undiagnostic worked flint and pottery from undated or clearly later contexts A possible Romano-British hollow-way and several contemporary ditches, probably forming part of a field system, were recorded in another area to the east. The only other convincingly Romano-British feature was an isolated pit, although small amounts of pottery and pieces of box flue and tegula were also found residually in later features throughout the site. The bulk of the datable finds suggest a focus of activity within the earlier part of the period (e.g., the 1st –early 3rd century). Elsewhere, a series of partially re-cut ditches and a possible hollow–way/eroded track seem to have formed part of a system of medieval/post-medieval agricultural land divisions, further elements of which may have been encountered within nearby trial trenches. Other features, dispersed throughout the excavated areas, essentially consisted of a few mostly small, shallow ditches – several of which defined post-medieval land divisions (e.g., field boundaries) whilst others are of uncertain date and function – along with two modern sheep burials and a very sparse scatter of undated pits, postholes and tree-throw hollows. The finds are of the late prehistoric to modern date and occurred in a restricted range of material types; none were present in any great quantity nor were they atypical for the region. The environmental evidence retrieved through selective sampling was limited. The majority of these features remain undated due to the paucity of archaeological material recovered from across the evaluation area, with only five features able to be given tentative dates. |
