Today’s VM_365 image shows a group of six postholes that formed the foundations of a structure, which were recorded in part of an Early Iron Age settlement that was excavated at Fort Hill, Margate in 1998. The postholes, which are shown in the foreground of the picture, were dated to by 17 sherds of flint tempered pottery found in the fills of two of the postholes to the Early Iron Age. Other finds from the fills included flintwork and burnt flint.
It is difficult to say what form the structure would have taken above ground. The dimensions of the timbers contained within the six supporting posts indicated by the postholes, suggest they would have been fairly substantial and could have formed the internal supporting structure of a roundhouse with a front porch. Four of the posts with a horizontal beam tied to their tops supporting a series of timber rafters and the other two supporting a door opening joined to the main body of the building.
An alternative suggestion is that they represent free standing platforms, supporting drying racks for grain or perhaps hides during the process of tanning. Although the postholes provide valuable evidence of a durable structure, it is very difficult to interpret the true form of the features beyond our efforts to make comparisons with existing examples in living cultures, or conjecture the form of the buildings or platforms based on layout of the posts that we assume occupied the holes.
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