Monument record TR 26 NE 1409 - Four Early Bronze Age beaker burials - Monkton

During excavations conducted in 1994-5 in advance of dualling work on the A253 several beaker period graves were recorded. Four were recorded in excavation area 4. One of these was mostly excavated by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology in 1993 during a preliminary evaluation of the route. Three were situated in a discrete area and were adjacent to one another.

Grave 751 - The westernmost grave consisted of a subrectangular cut, measuring 2.4 by 1.0m, with its longitudinal axis orientated approximately north–south (Fig 1/9). The cut had steeply inclined sides, a flat base and was 0.7m deep. Around the edges of the grave was a layer of compact chalk and loam which may have been packing material positioned between the grave cut and a putative timber lining. Lying on the base in the southern half of the cut was a single crouched inhumation with the head at the south, facing east. This represented a male, aged about 19–22 years old. Collagen extracted from this skeleton produced a radiocarbon date of 2180–1890 cal BC (at 95 per cent confidence) One third of a fragmented beaker was found in front of the skull. Between the flexed legs of this burial and the northern edge of the grave lay a deposit of disarticulated human bone representing parts of three individuals. This material had obviously had been gathered on the floor and has been identified as the remains
of a probably adult female with two children, one about 2 years old. Collagen extracted from these remains produced a radiocarbon date of 2289–1925 cal BC (at 95 per cent
confidence)

Grave 537- This feature was subrectangular and measured 1.5 by 1.0m, aligned approximately north–south (Fig 1/9) about 1m to the east of Grave 751. The profile of the cut possessed gently sloping sides with an undulating, though generally flat bottom just 0.18m deep and presumably represented only its very base after truncation. A few surviving fragments of eroded long bone shafts probably represent the crouched burial of a juvenile. Collagen extracted from the left femur produced a radiocarbon date of 1900–1430 cal BC (at 95 per cent confidence). However, this sample was very low in collagen and this date probably contains a large error and should be discounted. Associated sherds of a beaker were found in the northern end of the grave and some of these overlay the bones, suggesting considerable disturbance. Both the bones and the vessel were set on a thin patchy basal layer of compact crushed chalk and loam. This material almost certainly represents erosion from the edges of the feature prior to interment and suggests that the grave was cut and left open for some time. The upper fill provided no other artefactual evidence.

Grave 6371 - This feature was subrectangular in plan, 2.5m long and about 1m wide. The profile was steeply sided with an uneven but generally flat base 0.6m deep. This burial may also have originally been lined with wood since there was a compact deposit of crushed chalk and soil with occasional flint around the edges of the cut. This enclosed an area of 1.9 by 0.6m within the grave. The remains of two interments were located in this feature. In the southern half lay a crouched inhumation with its
head to the north, facing east. The skeleton, probably of a female, 12 to 14 years old, was in poor condition and not suitable for radiocarbon dating. No grave goods were associated with this interment. The second burial was situated at the northern end and there is some indication that this may have been inserted at a later date, though a separate cut for this postulated intrusion was not recorded. The lining 6418 was disturbed in this area, and there was a basal layer, not present in the rest of the cut. This sterile dark brown silty level, 0.15m thick at maximum was interpreted as the possible remains of a wooden coffin or lining. This deposit underlay the skeleton, which survived in very poor condition, also unsuitable for radiocarbon dating. This second crouched inhumation lay immediately to the north of the first, with its head to the
north, probably facing east and was of a child aged less than 6 years old. This skeleton was accompanied by a copper alloy ‘snake-head’ type bracelet found on its wrist and a beaker in an upright position just north of the head. The backfill of this feature yielded little else of interest apart from a few teeth and bone fragments, probably belonging to skeleton 6415. It seems likely that Grave was respecting the position of its predecessor, since not only were the northern edges of both cuts co-linear, but a uniform ridge of chalk subsoil between the two suggested that the graves had been intentionally placed immediately adjacent.

Grave 643 - One other inhumation was located approximately 80m east of the others. This isolated feature provided evidence for some form of timber lining and contained a
relatively well preserved and crouched burial of a female between 30 and 35 years old. The corpse, with head to the west, faced south. Although there were no associated grave goods or other dating evidence, the similarity of this feature to the other Beaker burials is clear and it is almost certainly of the same period. The cut for this feature was subrectangular, aligned near east–west with dimensions of 1.50 by 0.86m. The profile was vertical-sided and undercut in places with a flat base, generally 0.78m deep. Two linear slots, aligned north–south, had been cut into the base at the polar ends of the grave; these were 0.6m long, 0.1–0.2m wide and between 0.04m and 0.08m deep.
The slots marked the east and west sides of a rectangular frame. No slots for the northern and southern sides could be identified but here the structure survived as a linear
accumulation of decayed wood on the base of the cut and which mostly survived to a height of between 0.02m and 0.10m, with a maximum width of 0.08m. The deposit also filled or partially filled the slots mentioned above. On part of the north side however, a darker stain, probably from the decayed timber, survived to a height of 0.25m above the base. These remains suggest that the framing was constructed of planks laid on edge, with the longer, flanking members overlapping those at the ends. There was no basal remnant. The area enclosed by this construction, which housed the inhumation, was 1.03–1.08m long and 0.5–0.62m wide. The space between this frame and the grave cut was packed with a mixture of crushed and compacted chalk fragments and a silty clay, similar to the postulated packing found in a number of other Beaker burials, including those in Area 9. Most of this packing was directly abutted by the remaining backfills, the earliest of which sealed the skeleton and the remains of the timber frame. This material consisted of a mixture of light brown silt and chalk fragments and also contained darker patches of what may have been decayed wood. If this darker constituent has been correctly identified, its presence might suggest that the skeleton was originally sealed by a timber cover. Three deposits subsequently filled the rest of the grave cut and their nature and disposition would seem to support this hypothesis. The secondary deposit was loosely consolidated under the markedly compact bulk upper fill , and its vertical profile suggests that it represents a void, eventually filled with looser material derived mainly from the overlying backfill and the packing. The depth of the primary material may therefore indicate the original height of the timber structure (c 0.3m). Apart from a few flint flakes, no artefactual material was recovered from any of these deposits.

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1996, Canterbury's Archaeology 1994 - 1995 (Serial). SKE11882.

<2> Trust for Thanet Archaeology, 1993, An Archaeological Evaluation Ahead Of Improvements To The A253, Monkton To Minster (Unpublished document). SKE17233.

<3> Historic England Archive, 1949-1976, Historic England Archive CUCAP oblique aerial photographs, CUCAP CW65 19-JUL-1949 (Archive). SKE57107.