Category Archives: Places

VM_365 Day 299 Iron Age comb decorated sherds from Dumpton excavation archive

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Coy Archive, From the Archives, Iron Age, Prehistoric pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 299Today’s image, for Day 299 of the VM_365 project, shows six joining sherds and two other sherds from the decorated shoulder of the same Late Iron Age vessel. The sherds  belong to the pottery assemblage that we have been examining in our VM_365 posts, all contained in the the box of archive from the 1964 excavation at Broadstairs.

The sherds are from a large grog-tempered Late Iron Age ‘Belgic’ style storage jar, where a band of very fine horizontal combing has been applied beneath the plain neck and rim. In the upper part of the combed band there is a panel of diagonal decoration from the tip of the comb. This type of decoration, a narrowish band of diagonal or more commonly crossing diagonals of comb tip impressions, is quite a common occurrence on ‘Belgic’ style storage jars of Late Iron Age or Early Roman date. The sherds represent a vessel that probably dates to some time between 25-75 AD.

Other VM_365 posts exploring the contents of this archive box have been posted on Day 294, Day 295, Day 296, Day 297 and Day 298.

With thanks to Nigel Macpherson-Grant for kindly providing information on this vessel.

VM_365 Day 298 Iron Age pottery from the 1964 Dumpton Gap site

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Coy Archive, From the Archives, In the Store, Iron Age, Prehistoric pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 298

Today’s image for Day 298 of the VM_365 project shows six sherds of pottery that were present in the box of archive from a 1964 excavation at Dumpton which represent a selection from the assemblage of three common examples of Iron Age pottery which are comparable to pottery found on other sites on Thanet.

The sherd of pottery on the left hand side of the image dates from the Early to Middle Iron Age and is an example of a sherd from a large coarseware rusticated jar. Pottery of a similar type and date has been excavated by the Trust from an Iron Age settlement site very close by in the mid 1990’s. The rusticated surface finish on the vessel represented by this sherd was deliberatley applied perhaps to provide an easy grip surface on a large vessel. Alternatively the decoration may have some symbolic meaning which was explored in the VM_365 Day 169 post on some Early to Mid Iron Age rusticated pottery sherds of similar type from Margate.

The three sherds in the centre of the image are all sherds from Late Iron Age comb decorated, globular bead rim jars. Comb decoration was a technique that was frequently used in the Late Iron Age period although it had been used earlier in the Iron Age and was explored in detail in the post for Day 223 of the VM_365 project. An example of a reconstructed jar from Margate of a similar type to these sherds was featured on Day 170 of the VM_365 project.

The two sherds on the right hand side of the image are also examples from comb decorated jars although these jars would only have been decorated to just below the rim in a similar manner to the jar from Hartsdown, Margate featured on Day 224 of the VM_365 project.

 

 

VM_365 Day 297 Samian from the 1964 Dumpton Gap site

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Coy Archive, From the Archives, Roman, Roman pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 297

The image for today, for Day 297 of the VM_365 project, is of eight sherds of Roman samian pottery , which were present in the collection of paper bags storing finds from a site archive from 1964.  There are lots of  types of pottery present in the archive box dating from the Iron Age and Roman periods and these will give us clues as to the nature of the site  that was excavated there. Yesterday’s post showed three sherds of Roman Mortaria, a distinct type of kitchen ware, from three different vessels.

The imported high quality samian pottery above represents foot rings, rims and body sherds, mainly from plain cups and bowls although there is also one small decorated sherd. One of the sherds has a makers stamp reading ‘ERICIM’ impressed in the base (image right). Although re-analysis by a modern pottery specialist might bring to light up to date information discovered through research since the dig,  the excavator was knowledgeable and had done some research identifying the potter as Ericus I, possibly from the Lezoux area of central Gaul and dating the sherd to between 80-120 AD.

Examples of rare decorated samian sherds from the same region have featured on Day 175 and Day 179 of the VM_365 project.

VM_365 Day 296 Mortaria from the 1964 Dumpton Gap site

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Coy Archive, From the Archives, In the Store, Roman, Roman pottery, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 296The image today, for Day 296 of the VM_365 project, is of three sherds of Roman Mortaria, giving a closer look at the types of pottery that were present in the collection of paper bags storing finds from a site archive from 1964.

Mortaria were a distinctive  type of Roman kitchen ware  made in fine light brown and buff fabrics. Mortaria were made by several Roman pottery manufacturers, many based in the region around the Roman town of Verulamium. The steep sided bowls had flat bases and a broad outcropping rim, incorporating a finely  moulded pouring spout. The interior of the bowl was roughened with the addition of sharp grits in the clay fabric.

A well established typology and dating series has been developed for these vessels, often based on the makers stamps that were pressed into the rims. The size of the vessels and the moulding of the rim vary between manufactures and can be used to identify individual vessels. At the Dumpton site the sherds of Mortaria contained in the archive box, and shown in the image here,  represent three separate vessels.

The presence of Mortaria sherds in the pottery assemblage from the site helps to identify what type of site or settlement the material may have come from and  tells us something about its status. Similar Mortaria have been found at both the Abbey Farm Villa at Minster and from a Roman building at Broadstairs, where a well preserved Mortairium was present among many vessels apparently representing the dumped contents of a kitchen.

VM_365 Day 295 The medium is the message…

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Coy Archive, From the Archives, In the Store, Margate, Modern, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 295

Today’s image for Day 295 of the VM_365 project shows some examples of the paper bags from the archive box , which contained sherds of pottery from the Seacroft Road dig from 1965 that we have been examining in posts for Day 292, Day 293 and Day 294 of the VM_365 project. The paper bags are the next step of understanding what the archive holds and we have been cataloguing the contents and repackaging them into archivally stable polythene bags.

The paper bags date from the 1960’s and possibly 1970’s and are historic artefacts in their own right. Two are from specific Margate local businesses, W. M. Caton, a baker in Upper Dane Road, Margate (top left) and Thorton Bobby Ltd  (bottom left and middle) a long established electrical goods business in Northdown Road.

The bag from WM Caton, a bakery business which no longer exists, advertises ‘Delicious cakes and Pastries. Bride, Brirthday and Celebration Cakes our speciality’ and apart from their head office and Bakery at Upper Dane Road also advertises three other Margate based outlets of the business, two on Northdown Road and one in Tivoli Road.

The bag from Thorton Bobby Ltd advertises that they sell records ‘Popular and Classical’ and ‘Hi-Fi Equipment and Tape Recorders’ in their two shops in Northdown Road and Queen Street, Margate. Thorton Bobby still operates in Margate and branched out into selling electrical goods, not just records and Hi-Fi equipment  although it is now known as Euronics Thornton Bobby.

The other bags advertise specific brands including Brooke Bond tea ‘A picture card in every packet’ and ‘Tea you can really taste’, NPU Chemists ‘Shop where you see this sign’ and the symbol of the independent Chemist’ and Hovis ‘Christmas Greetings’ and ‘Don’t just say brown… say Hovis’. The Brooke Bond and Hovis bags were probably from local grocery shops where the majority of people would have obtained their groceries before the expansion of supermarket chains and large everything-under-one-roof superstores.

More importantly for the purposes of the archaeological archive, a few of the paper bags had information about their contents written on them in pencil. The Thorton Bobby bag (centre bottom)  was inscribed ‘Gully B5’ in pencil and this has been transcribed onto the new packaging in case it helps to understand where the material came from. When an archive of this age is examined, it is important to examine all aspects of it, including what might appear to be ephemeral or expedient packaging. A note written in haste on a bag picked up from a local shop may just hold the clue to the significance of the contents or the whole archive.

 

VM_365 Day 294 Iron Age and Roman pottery sherds from 1964 Dumpton excavation Archive

Archaeology, Coy Archive, From the Archives, In the Store, Iron Age, Ramsgate, Roman, Roman pottery, Thanet, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 294

The image for today’s post on Day 294 of the VM_365 project shows the contents of some of the paper bags, stored in an archive box from an excavation carried out by Joe Coy with the Thanet Excavation Group at Dumpton, between Broadstairs and Ramsgate in 1964.

To understand how important the information contained in the archive is, we need to carefully examine how and why each item has been stored and labelled. In the image above the sherds are laid out on the paper shop bags they were stored in so that they can be assessed in more detail. Later they will need to be catalogued and put into plastic bags which will help to ensure their safe storage in the long term

All but two of the bags in the 1964 excavation box contain pottery sherds. The sherds have generally been marked with a site code and feature number, which we now know corresponds with feature numbers on the sketch plan in the box.

There seems to be no corresponding finds list, description of the pottery or dating for the items in the archive box, so each pottery sherd  may have to be re-examined to understand the date range of the features fully.

However even a casual examination of the material reveals the span of the dates covered by the sherds, apparently a classic assemblage spanning the Late Iron Age and Early Roman period. Many of the pottery sherds are comparable with typical vessel types from other sites the local area, which have featured in earlier VM_365 posts.

The site excavated by Joe Coy and the Thanet Excavation Group in 1964 is very close to a large site excavated at Dumpton Gap by Howard Hurd, one of Thanet’s archaeological pioneers. Although Hurd emphasised the Iron Age aspects of his site, described by him as the remains of ‘a Late Celtic Village’, later excavations suggested that there was a more significant Roman element to the settlement than was previously thought. As we start to understand the 1964 archive, it looks likely that this will make a significant contribution to understanding that Roman settlement phase here.

The analysis will continue in subsequent posts.

VM_365 Day 293 What’s in the archive box?

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Coy Archive, From the Archives, In the Store, Ramsgate, Roman pottery, Thanet's Heritage Pioneers, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 293

The Image for Day 293 of the VM_365 project is of the contents of the small cardboard archive box we started to look at in the post for Day 292. Although we have an idea from the label of the general area where the material may come from, a site at Dumpton Down between Broadstairs and Ramsgate, there is no record of what is actually in the box.

Our first task is to see what sort of material the archive contains, and what condition it is in. Then we need to know what sort of information it might be able to give us. In fact, even at first examination the box contains some very useful material. At least the box doesn’t contain bags of unwashed pottery or dried up leather.  The artefacts, which generally seem to be  pottery sherds of small to large size, seems to have been processed well.

Among the  containers stored in the box amount to eight paper bags from shops, which in themselves amount to something of a historic archive. There are also eight small brown paper envelopes, of a type people would have received cash wages in. Another similar wage packet envelope as a clear window in the front. There is one standard small brown envelope and a quantity of loose pottery sherds, some glued together to reconstruct part profiles. A small card in the box has the address of the excavator, Mr. Joe Coy,  from the  1960’s or 70’s written on it.

Best of all, there is a small paper sketch plan of an excavation, possibly where the artefacts came from. It’s not a perfect plan but it will help to evaluate what the finds in the bags can tell us. Each bag seems to have a feature code written on it, which may correspond with the plan and most of the sherds are marked with a site and feature code.

Although perhaps the containers leave something to be desired in archive stability, polythene mini-grip bags are probably preferable to a paper bag from a butcher’s shop in Margate, they have retained their contents reasonably well in the half century since the excavation was carried out.

In our next post for VM_365 Day 294 we will take a look at what is actually in some of the bags and what we might learn from the finds.

VM_365 Day 290 Burial at centre of small round barrow at North Foreland

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Bronze Age, North Foreland, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM_290

The image for Day 290 is of a burial that was located at the centre of the  platform within the ring ditch of a Bronze Age round barrow which featured in the post for Day 289.

The main grave cut containing the burial was rectangular in plan, measuring approximately 1.75 metres long and 1.05 metres wide. The corners were rounded and the sides were vertical on the northern and southern edges. The eastern and western edges had steep slightly curved sides and the whole feature only measured 0.3 metres deep. The base of the cut was rough and uneven and the burial itself was contained in a slight rounded hollow, aligned approximately north east south west, which lay at the base of the rectangular cut. A chalk deposit with an inner edge that corresponded with the edges of the hollow in the base of the grave cut suggests that like other graves on this site it was retained by a coffin structure which did not survive.

The skeleton had eroded considerably, with only solid long bones left to indicate the original layout of the burial; their position within the grave suggests that the body had been placed in a crouched position with the head to the south, facing west.  Although the remains were poorly preserved and fragmentary, enough remained to be able to determine that they were the bones of an adult, aged approximately 25 -35 years old.

The deposit immediately above the skeleton, within or above the coffin, incorporated fragments of charred wood along with charred wheat and barley grains. Two small sherds of early Iron Age flint tempered pottery found in this deposit seem to be intrusions from the heavy truncation from the later Iron Age settlement on the site.

Despite the poor level of survival of this grave, much information remained to be discovered through the excavation and analysis of the grave and the burial.

VM_365 Day 289 A small Bronze Age barrow with big stories to tell

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Bronze Age, From the Archives, North Foreland, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 289For the image on Day 289 we have a picture of the ring ditch of a small round barrow,  located at the western edge of the St. Stephens College excavation site at North Foreland, Broadstairs. The barrow stands on the crest of the chalk ridge with the land falling away to the north and north west.

The ditch was formed of two fairly regular arcs, joined by a short straight ditch at the southern end which created an almost complete circuit with a diameter of 9.6m. On the northern side of the ring ditch a 0.4m gap between two square ended terminals formed a narrow causeway from the outside to the inside of the circuit. The small dimensions and irregular shape have been compared with a barrow of similar dimensions that was found at South Dumpton Down, Broadstairs. The primary burial at Dumpton Down dated to the Beaker period, in the Early Bronze Age, suggesting the barrow at North Foreland dates to the same period.

The ring ditch at North Foreland was excavated by digging fourteen segments at regular interval through the dark loam deposits with irregularly distributed chalk and flint inclusions that filled the ditch. A flat based profile with very steeply sloping or near vertical sides was exposed along the whole length of the ditch, which only survived to a depth between 0.42 and 0.57m;  the width varied from 0.75 and 0.9m.

Like many of Bronze Age barrows featured in the VM_365 posts, on Day 271 and Day 286,  several of the upper fills of a ditch originally cut in the Early Bronze Age contained pottery dating to the Iron Age. Like the other barrows, this small example must have remained as an earthwork in the landscape, only to be completely filled in the later Iron Age period.

Two grave cuts were identified within the circuit of the barrow ditch; one positioned centrally and the other on the southern edge. Another more unusual grave cut was  found cut into the base of the north western arm of the ring ditch, these will be explored in more detail in later VM_365 posts.

VM_365 Day 288. Secondary Bronze Age burial within refurbished Barrow at North Foreland

Archaeology, Bronze Age, From the Archives, North Foreland, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 288

Today’s image for Day 288 of the VM_365 project shows a small oval grave that was located on the inner north west edge of a refurbished ring ditch, which was featured on Day 286 of the VM_365 project.

The skeletal remains were in a tightly crouched position, with the arms and legs flexed suggesting the body may have been tightly wrapped. The body, possibly a male aged between 14 -16 years old, had been placed on its left side, with its head  facing east at the north end of the grave cut.  The upper body was twisted so that the skeleton lay almost face down.

The grave cut was much smaller than the  burial that was placed at the centre of the original ring ditch, measuring just 1.04 metres long by 0.7 metres wide and with a depth of 0.5 metres. There was evidence that a coffin or containing structure, perhaps a woven basket, surrounded the immediate area of the burial.  A void around the skeleton had been filled by a deposit of silty clay derived from decay of organic matter and the percolation of silts from the surrounding deposits. The finer soil was retained within a chalky grave fill packed around the body, some of which is shown still in place in the picture above. The clean white chalk of the undisturbed chalk geology can be seen at the outer edge of the regular eliptical cut.

The upper fill of the oval grave pit incorporated the remains of a secondary burial, represented only by some unfused fragments of vertebrae and teeth, suggesting  a juvenile. No evidence of a secondary grave cut through the fill of the earlier burial  was identified during excavation. A small sherd of worn early Iron Age flint tempered pottery was found near the primary burial, but it is thought this may have intruded into the fill when the second burial was inserted in the early Iron Age.

The sequence of burial and the refurbishment of the ring ditch that defined the edge of the barrow show that once these structures were built, they  were sustained as places of significance over many centuries and cultural changes. Their meaning to each successive generation may also have changed but their physical presence was a fact in the landscape which only reduced in definition and scale over a long period of time, and could when necessary, be restored to gain new importance.