A Later Bronze Age Well Complex at Swalecliffe, Kent

Abstract

This paper examines the significance of seventeen later Bronze Age wells found during construction at Swalecliffe, in north-east Kent. The unusual depth of the features made for exceptional preservation of wooden structural elements, including steps and revetments, demonstrating rare evidence for woodworking and woodmanship. Extensive biological remains facilitated environmental reconstruction, and a lengthy dendrochronological sequence corroborates the internationally important Flag Fen chronology. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon dates demonstrate around 500 years of seemingly continuous use and replacement of wells. Votive deposits and apparatus used for water collection provide glimpses of small-scale ritual and domestic activities. The highly unusual concentration of wells is compared to contemporary sites regionally and elsewhere.

Hot Stone Technology at Bucklers Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire: The Use and Re-use of a Persistent Place During the Bronze and Iron Ages

“…The waterholes investigated at Perry Oaks, Heathrow (Lewis et al 2006, 142-5) also contained objects such as adze and axe hafts, wooden beaters, and polished stone axes deposited in their lower fills. Further afield, at Swalecliffe in Kent, a near complete pottery bucket associated with a withy sling was found at the base of a Late Bronze Age waterhole and an adjacent Late Bronze Age waterhole contained an oak yoke for human use (Masefield et al 2003). These objects were interpreted as equipment used for the collection and transportation of water from the well for use nearby.…”

“…A number of birch and oak planks and plank fragments were also present, with charring on two examples suggesting that they may have been recycled from other uses, such as within a building, perhaps one that burnt down. Similar planks were used as steps, held in place by stakes, at a well complex at Swalecliffe in Kent (Masefield et al 2003) and the planks and stakes from Bucklers Park may represent similar but dislodged steps. Dendrochronological analysis established a floating 76-year chronology for two of the oak stakes (see dating section below).…”

“…A partial plain rim and a few sherds from the join of the base and lower wall, together with the fabric and thick-walled body profile, are strongly suggestive of the Middle Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury urn tradition (Doherty 2019). It is likely that the deposition of this vessel was deliberate, though it may also represent the loss of a vessel used to draw water from the well, like the bucket found in a waterhole at Swalecliffe, Kent (Masefield et al 2003). Three body sherds of slightly finer Deverel-Rimbury wares of the Middle Bronze Age were also noted in the fill, along with two pieces of burnt flint.…”

Salt Production, Distribution and Use in the British Iron Age

“…Hampshire (Wainwright and Davies, 1995), Kent (e.g. Masefield et al, 2003;Griffin, 2006), Lincolnshire (Palmer- Brown, 1993;Lane and Morris, 2001), Somerset (Foster, 1990) and Surrey (Proctor, 2002). Features shared by these sites include the lack of evidence of their existence in aerial photographs (Hall and Coles, 1994: 92), an absence of related artefacts in ploughsoil near the site and an inability to identify such sites through fieldwalking (Lane and Morris, 2001: 9).…”

Interpreting Radiocarbon Dates Using Evidence from Tree Rings

“…This distribution is applied in a similar manner to previous examples ( Figure 6) and suggests that this coffin was built in cal AD 1071-1095 (95% probability). Figure 7 shows the results of the wiggle-matching of a floating tree-ring sequence from Swalecliffe, Kent (Masefield et al 2003). Six sequential bi-decadal blocks of waterlogged wood were dated, ending 9 yr before the heartwood/sapwood boundary on timber 5124.2<3>.…”