A Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery
at the Meads, Sittingbourne
Construction
of a mixed retail and residential development, on an area known
as ‘The Meads’, near Sittingbourne, commenced in May
2008. The site, which straddles the boundary between Sittingbourne/Milton
Regis and Bobbing, had been subject to Brickearth extraction in
the past, so surviving archaeology was not expected, despite an
aerial photograph of 1982 which appeared to show the crop-marks
of large ring ditches on the site. Consequently, a condition for
a watching brief was placed on the site, which was carried out by
Andy Linklater of Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
Stripping of
the topsoil by GSE Ltd revealed that most of the Brickearth on the
site had indeed been removed, but also that archaeological features
survived cut into the underlying gravels. The first major feature
located was one of the prehistoric ring ditches. Several features
with corroded iron objects in their fills were also noted within
the circuit of the ring ditch. As further areas were stripped, it
rapidly became apparent that a major early Anglo-Saxon cemetery
was also present on the site. Since construction had already commenced,
there was little option other than to launch an excavation and a
CAT team, led by Tania Holmes, carried this out from May to December
2008.
By the time
the excavation was completed in December 2008, 227 Anglo-Saxon inhumations
and 2 cremations had been excavated. The majority were inhumations,
although a small number of urned cremations were also recovered.
Bone preservation was very poor, with a few long bones and teeth
surviving in a very fragile state; most burials contained no bone
at all. However, the majority of the inhumations did contain grave
goods; over 2500 objects, including weapons, dress accessories,
knives and vessels, have been recovered. Some of the graves contained
considerable numbers of objects, including several rich weapon burials
(almost certainly those of men) and three, female gendered, burials
with garnet-inlaid brooches, including a plated disc brooch from
Grave 2. Many of the graves contained sets of glass, amber or amethyst
beads; there were over 300 glass beads in Grave 203 alone.
Grave 184, a
weapon burial with sword, shield and spear, contained a pair of
intact glass cone beakers, placed either side of the head; very
appropriate for someone buried at a place called the Meads, on a
part of the site that is due to become a pub!
The finds from
the cemetery appear to date from around the middle of the 6th century
AD through to the end of the 7th. Although some distinctively Kentish
and Frankish objects, such as garnet-inlaid brooches and belt fittings,
are present, there is no sign of the material culture that characterises
east Kent during the late 5th or early 6th century. This may be
because burial at this site had not commenced by then, or because
the earliest parts of the cemetery lay beyond the limits of the
excavation. Alternatively, it may be that the community using this
site had yet to come within the orbit of the emerging Kentish kingdom
at that stage. The Meads represents the first modern, large-scale,
excavation of an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery in the mid-Kent region
(that is, between the Medway and the Stour). Most of our ideas about
the nature of east Kentish cemeteries at this time come from the
region south-east of the Stour, or from Thanet; the easternmost
third of the county. There is very little information, for instance,
on the rich cemetery at King’s Field, Faversham, other than
a large collection of grave goods which suggests proximity to a
high-status craft-working site from circa 540 onwards;
it may be only from this period that the Swale region became fully
integrated within the Kingdom of Kent. The Meads is thus a key site
for our understanding of the internal development of early Anglo-Saxon
Kent. One already noticeable contrast with east Kent concerns weapon
burials; the majority at the Meads include shields, a pattern more
typical of East Anglia than Kent east of the Stour. It will be interesting
to see whether any other differences between the community at the
Meads and their neighbours further east in Kent become apparent
during the study of this site.
But the dead
were being buried at this place long before the 6th century AD.
The ring ditch was probably associated with a now vanished Bronze
Age round barrow, part of several situated along the low ridge that
bisects the site from north-east to south-west. The mound and central
burial have not survived, although the ditch fill produced an interesting
assemblage of worked flint and prehistoric pottery (as did many
of the Anglo-Saxon grave fills), indicating activity on the site
during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. A major surprise was
the discovery of four Beaker vessels in a cluster of features away
from the barrow. These seem to represent accessory vessels from
three inhumations, along with one cremation. Other prehistoric features
in this part of the site include post holes and what appears to
be a segmented ditch; the latter partially encloses the area centred
on the Beaker burials and has produced early prehistoric, possibly
Neolithic, pottery.
Clearly, a very
significant prehistoric site is present at the Meads and this is
yet another place in Kent where an early Anglo-Saxon community were
drawn to place their dead in proximity to early prehistoric round
barrows. Analysis and publication of CAT’s excavations at
the Meads will make a major contribution to the archaeology of both
periods in the mid-Kent region.
ANDREW
RICHARDSON
Canterbury Archaeological Trust
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