Bronze Age to Iron Age Remains at Site A3, Orbital Park Phase 1, Ashford, Kent: PXA and UPD

Oxford Archaeology East carried out a strip, map and sample excavation between 21st September and 30th October 2015 at Site A3, Orbital Park, Ashford, Kent. Salmon Harvester Properties Ltd commissioned and funded this Archaeological work sub-contracted to Oxford Archaeology East by Weiser Construction acting as the principle contractor. The site comprised 1.25 hectares of undeveloped land within an industrial park on the southern outskirts of Ashford that is proposed for further development of industrial units.
The current works constitute a westward extension of a 1.5 hectare site excavated by Oxford Archaeology South in 2010 (Site A3, Orbital Park Phase 2). The adjacent site revealed Iron Age settlement activity comprising ditched boundaries, ring gullies, round houses and pits. The pottery recovered indicated a Middle to Late Iron Age date for these remains. Indications of an earlier field system dating to the Bronze Age were also encountered. Iron Age and Bronze Age ditches were mapped leading west from the previous excavation into the current area of investigation.
The 2015 OA East excavations identified Middle Bronze Age ditched boundaries extending across the site, one of which contained a bronze palstave axe. A single beaker pit lay adjacent to one of these.
Two substantial enclosures from which small quantities of Iron Age pottery were recovered were also found, while a single cremation burial pit was revealed in the northeastern corner of the site.
The excavations in the southern part of the site revealed a (presumably) ritual complex comprising three adjacent square ditched enclosures of varying, but similar, form and dimension. These were themselves bounded on the northern and western sides by further ditch segments. The enclosure ditches were fully excavated and yielded very small quantities of Late Iron Age pottery. Examples of similar Late Iron Age enclosures have been encountered elsewhere, sometimes associated with cremation burial sites, and it is possible that these represent mortuary enclosures associated with a nearby, as yet unidentified, burial site.