Monument record TQ 96 SE 1184 - Bronze Age pits, Station Road, Teynham

A Bronze Age pit was identified during an evaluation carried out at Station Road, Teynham. The evaluation was completed in advance of proposed residential development at the site. The pit measured 0.95 in diameter and 0.24m in depth, containing three fills. Artefacts recovered from the pit included fired clay, worked flint, burnt flint, and Beaker pottery. 82 sherds weighing 612g of Beaker pottery was rcovered from the pit and from bulk soil sampling at the site. The assemblage included rim, base, and body sherds, some of which were decorated with horizontal and diagonal motifs using cord, comb, and tool impressions. (Summarised from the report, 1).
An environmental sample was taken from the fill of the feature and another later prehistoric feature at the site. Charred material alongside the "remains of terrestrial molluscs, a fragment of marine mollusc (mussel) and a small animal bone were also present. The bulk sediment samples also contained burnt and unburnt bone, slag, small animal charred coprolites and a probable fish bone." (from the original report, 1). Plant remains including hazelnut shell, meadow grass, clover, and nettle were also recovered through environmental sampling. (1)

Another pit was identified 1.4m to the south east during a strip, map, and sample excavation carried out in 2019. The pit measured 0.82m in length, 0.76m in width and 0.13m in depth and contained two fills containing charcoal, a small amount of pottery, burnt bone and worked flint.
Environmental anlaysis of material from the feature identified hazel nut fragments, a single cereal grain, nettle, meadow grass, and clovers, indicating that wild plant species were being exploited during the Neolithic - Bronze Age period. (2)

<1> CgMs, 2019, Archaeological evaluation, Land at Station Road, Teynham, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE53100.

<2> RPS Group, 2019, Archaeological excavation and Geoarchaeological test pitting, Land at Station Road, Teynham, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE54548.