Monument record TR 16 NE 1429 - Bronze Age - early Iron Age settlement, Molehill Solar Farm

Bronze Age to early Iron Age activity in the form of gullies, a sunked floored building , a road, pits, and ditches, was identified during 2014 excavations at Molehill Solar Farm, Canterbury. An evaluation and an excavation were carried out at the site, both of which uncovered evidence for settlement and agricultural land use during this period.

The settlement (which covered an area of approximately 10,870 square metres) comprised a series of early – middle Bronze Age features, including a probable sunken floored building represented by a large flat-based pit-like feature surrounded by a curvilinear boundary ditch, alongside food storage pits, clay extraction pits, and a large ditch. A large boundary ditch is thought by the authors of the report (1) to have encircled part or all of the settlement. Three unurned cremation burials containing calcined bone fragments and charcoal were identified in spatial association with the boundary ditch. Analysis of the cremations determined that each burial contained only one individual, that no grave goods were present in any of the burials, and that the individuals were older than neonates and infants, with one bone fragment indicating an age of adolescent or older.

Finds associated with the probable building included ceramic elements of a demolished kiln, burnt daub, animal remains, loom weights, and pottery fragments. The kiln and quarry pits are indicative of the manufacture of pottery and other ceramic artefacts potentially taking place in the area.

Further features identified to the north-west, centre, and south of the site included a series of field ditches, gullies, furrows, cultivation strips, and pits containing Bronze Age and early Iron Age pottery sherds, represented further evidence for activity during this period. These features may have been related to settlement and/or agriculture. Some features contained sea-shells within their fills, indicative of the diet of the settlement’s inhabitants. Furthermore, a bowl-shaped kiln or hearth and associated pit was identified to the south of the site.

The hollow way was associated with and located 20m east and south-east of the Middle Bronze Age settlement at the site. The track-way was aligned NE-SW, and was a substantial feature measuring around 6m in width and 0.85m in depth, and associated with a drainage gully. The hollow way appeared to have been in use over many phases of settlement at the site, with pottery sherds found within its fill dating from around 1700-500 BC. (1)

<1> Neo Environmental, 2015, Archaeological Assessment Report, Molehill (Unpublished document). SKE57900.