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A rare find was made in 2012 when a metal-detectorist on land near Bridge, a few miles south of Canterbury, Kent, recovered a copper alloy brooch, other metal items, and a quantity of burnt bone contained in a near complete, probably imported Gallic, helmet of Iron Age type. Excavation was undertaken to ascertain the immediate context of the helmet, confirm that it represented a cremation burial, and determine if it formed part of a larger funerary deposit. The helmet and brooch suggest a burial date in the mid-1st century BC and the apparently isolated cremation burial, of a possibly female adult, can be broadly placed within the Aylesford-Swarling tradition; the helmet taking the place of a more usual pottery cinerary urn. Cropmark evidence suggests that the burial was made within a wider landscape of Iron Age occupation.

Dendrochronology Report 111 Four samples were submitted. Their ring-sequences matched together to make a chronology of 266 years. Three samples from plank matched with high t-values which suggested that they were riven from the same tree; the other, a wedge, was probably a piece of re-used timber or from the centre of a long-lived tree. The planks had complete sapwood and the timber was felled in midsummer AD. 132 (t-value v London, 7.2). Archaeological Services, Liverpool University. A Chalk Figurine from Upper Deal, Kent. Keith Parfitt and Miranda Green write: Excavations by the Dover Archaeological Group ahead of construction work on a site adjacent to St Richards Road, Upper Deal in East Kent, have revealed a series of Roman pits, ditches and post-holes probably relating to a native farmstead. Amongst the pits excavated was a chalk-cut shaft at NGR TR 36335070. This was some 2.50 m deep and gave access to a small underground chamber. The fill of this structure included Roman pottery of late first-to second-century date. 118 At a point about 0.40 m above the floor of the chamber, the fill produced a small chalk figurine standing some 18.8 cms high, the 'Deal Man' (FIG. 9). This figurine has a simply carved face, a long slender neck (unfortunately broken during the rather difficult rescue excavations) and a plain rectangular body, with no attempt being made to represent arms or legs. 119 Oddly, the figurine's base slopes backwards so that it will not stand up on a flat surface. A small niche found high up in the northwest wall of the chamber, however, has an apparently compensating sloping base and it seems likely that this originally housed the figure. 120 The striking feature of the Deal chalk figurine is the schematism with which the image is portrayed. The body is merely an undressed block of chalk, with no attempt at modelling of the human form, while the facial features are simple lines with deep-set holes for the eyes and with the cheeks dished to give the nose some relief. There are parallels both for the figurine itself and for the artistic treatment of cult-objects. The general style is essentially Celtic, with no Roman influence whatever. Although the Deal figure seems to be of Roman date, the tradition of simple, abstract or schematised images may be traced in the 117 Dendrochronological report-No tingham University Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory: t-value v Londonpersonal communication J. Hillam and R. Morgan, Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory, Sheffield University; the London Chronology is compiled from data obtained by them; also the History of Art, Oxford University and Ian Tyers Southwark Archaeological Unit. 118 See Britannia xiv (1983), 335 and Britannia xvi, (1985), 315-316 for accounts of work on this site. 119 Britannia xvi (1985), pi. XXVB. 120 For a more detailed consideration of the complete structure see Kent Archaeological Review lxxxiii (1986), 59-62; Current Archaeology ci (1986), 167-8.

During the spring of 1993 Mr Darren Nichols was searching land near Canterbury with his new metal detector when he made a most interesting discovery. At a shallow depth he unearthed a burial, containing a decorated bronze mirror, a bronze brooch, and the remains of a pot holding cremated bone. The mirror was subsequently identified as being of Iron Age date, bearing a characteristic engraved Celtic design on its reverse. Realising the importance of the find, Mr Nichols reported the discovery to local archaeologists who were able to visit the site and re-excavate the find-spot. These investigations produced a second brooch and further sherds from the very fragmented cinerary urn.In July 1994 the metalwork from the burial was passed to Dr Ian Stead of the British Museum for detailed study and recording. A year later the finder sold the mirror and brooches at a Sotheby's auction (Sale LN5398, Lot 3) to a private collector, who has very kindly agreed to details of the objects being published here.