Cliff End Farm, Isle of Thanet, Kent : a mortuary and ritual site of the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon period with evidence for long-distance maritime mobility / Jacqueline I. McKinley [and five others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKinley, Jacqueline I., author.

Series:

Wessex Archaeology report ; 31.

Wessex Archaeology Report ; 31

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Excavations (Archaeology)--England--Thanet.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Kent (England)--Antiquities.

Kent (England).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (481 p.)

Place of Publication:

Salisbury, [England] : Wessex Archaeology, 2014.

Summary:

Excavations at Cliffs End Farm, Thanet, Kent, undertaken in 2004/5 uncovered a dense area of archaeological remains including Bronze Age barrows and enclosures, and a large prehistoric mortuary feature, as well as a small early 6th to late 7th century Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery. An extraordinary series of human and animal remains were recovered from the Late Bronze Age-Middle Iron Age mortuary feature, revealing a wealth of evidence for mortuary rites including exposure, excarnation and curation. The site seems to have been largely abandoned in the later Iron Age and very little Romano-British activity was identified. In the early 6th century a small inhumation cemetery was established. Very little human bone survived within the 21 graves, where the burial environment differed from that within the prehistoric mortuary feature, but grave goods indicate 'females' and 'males' were buried here. Richly furnished graves included that of a 'female' buried with a necklace, a pair of brooches and a purse, as well as a 'male' with a shield covering his face, a knife and spearhead. In the Middle Saxon period lines of pits, possibly delineating boundaries, were dug, some of which contained large deposits of marine shells. English Heritage funded an extensive programme of radiocarbon and isotope analyses, which have produced some surprising results that shed new light on long distance contacts, mobility and mortuary rites during later prehistory. This volume presents the results of the investigations together with the scientific analyses, human bone, artefact and environmental reports.

Contents:

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; List of Figures; List of Plates; List of Tables; List of Contributors; Acknowledgments; Foreword; Summary; Foreign language summaries; Chapter 1: Introduction by Jörn Schuster; Location and Geology; Archaeological Background; Mesolithic and Neolithic; Bronze Age; Iron Age; Romano-British; Anglo-Saxon; Project Background and Research Aims; Methods of Excavation and Recording; Chapter 2: Prehistoric Evidence by Matt Leivers and Jacqueline I. McKinley; Evidence for early prehistoric activity by Matt Leivers; Neolithic features

Beaker and Early Bronze Age featuresBarrow 1; Barrow 2; Barrow 3; Barrow 4; Barrow 5; Barrow 6; Discussion; Middle Bronze Age; Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age features; Northern Enclosure; Central Enclosure; Southern Enclosure; Mortuary Feature 2018 by Jacqueline I. McKinley; Late Bronze Age: 11th-9th century cal BC; Burial Pit 3666; Mortuary and other deposits external to Burial Pit 3666 .52; Late Early Iron Age: 5th century cal BC; Pits; Mortuary deposits; Middle Iron Age: 4th-3rd century cal BC; Pits; Mortuary deposits

Late Iron Age/Romano-British period (including features external to Mortuary Feature 2018)Natural features; Chapter 3: Chronology and the Radiocarbon Dating Programme by Peter Marshall, Alistair J. Barclay, Alex Bayliss, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Gordon Cook, Pieter M. Grootes, John Meadows, and Johannes van der Plicht; Introduction; Objectives; Sample selection; Radiocarbon laboratory methods; Results; Calibration; Stable isotopes; Methodological approach; Later prehistoric site chronology; Samples and sequence; Burial Pit 3666 and 'satellite' deposits; Single graves and human bone deposits

Midden Pit 2028Northern Enclosure; Central Enclosure; Southern Enclosure; Human skull from pit 2834; Pit 3455; Late Bronze Age pottery; Modelling and interpretation; Mortuary Feature 2018; Late Bronze Age enclosures and Midden Pit 2028; Ceramic sequence and chronology; Forms and decoration; Discussion; Fabrics; Site chronology; Conclusion; Chapter 4: Human Bone and Mortuary Deposits by Jacqueline I. McKinley; Methods; Results; Taphonomy and ancient modification; Demographic data; Minimum number of individuals; Late Bronze Age; Early Iron Age; Middle Iron Age; Late Iron Age-Romano-British

Age and sexMetric and non-metric data; Skeletal indices; Pathology; Dental disease; Trauma; Joint disease; Infection; Miscellaneous lesions; Health status overview; Isotopic investigation of residential mobility and diet by Andrew Millard; Principles; Materials; Methods; Sample preparation; O-isotope analysis; Sr-isotope analysis; C-, and N-isotope analysis; Statistical analysis; Results and discussion; Individual migrations; Conclusions; Chapter 5: Prehistoric Finds and Environmental Evidence; Prehistoric pottery by Matt Leivers; Methods; Condition; Fabrics; Early and Middle Neolithic

Beaker and Early Bronze Age

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed March 30, 2016).

ISBN:

9781874350712

187435071X