Digging at the Gateway: Archaeological landscapes of south Thanet : The Archaeology of the East Kent Access (Phase II) Volume 2: The Finds, Environmental and Dating Reports Hardback

East Kent has been a gateway for new people, cultures, ideas and trade for thousands ofyears.

The Isle of Thanet, now joined to the mainland following the silting and reclamationof the former Wantsum Channel, was at the forefront of these movements. A Kent County Council programme to build a new road link, the East Kent Access, inthe south-east part of Thanet resulted in the largest archaeological project carried out inBritain in 2010.

An Oxford Wessex Archaeology joint venture undertook the excavationof 48 hectares along the 6.5 kilometre route, revealing a wealth of archaeological evidencespanning the Palaeolithic to the Second World War. Volume 2 presents the analysis of the finds, environmental remains and the extensiveradiocarbon dating programme, and includes the largest published assemblage of unburntand cremated human bone from Thanet.

Amongst the finds the worked flint, the Iron Agecoins and the later prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxon metalwork are of particularinterest, and there are important assemblages of prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxonpottery, worked stone and fired clay.

Highlights from the environmental remains includethe large assemblages of animal bone and charred plant remains and the unique evidencefor Anglo-Saxon shellfish processing.