Church Lane and East of Station Road, Smeeth, ARC CHL 98 and ARC STR 99

The Oxford Archaeological Unit was commissioned by Union Railways (South) Ltd (URS) to undertake detailed archaeological investigations at the adjacent sites of Church Lane and East of Station Road, in the parish of Smeeth, near Sellindge, Kent (centred on NGR TR 07796 38400). The stripped areas were 2.5 ha and 2.1 ha in extent respectively. The work formed part of an extensive programme of archaeological investigation carried out in advance of the construction of the CTRL. The two sites were separated by an unnamed stream (a tributary of the East Stour River). <p><em>Church Lane</em></p> <p>Zone 4, which was c. 0.18 ha in extent, was intended to investigate a potential Mesolithic finds scatter on the margins of the stream. Only the western part of Zone 4 contained alluvial/colluvial deposits, which yielded over 160 flint flakes from an area of c. 200 m2. A further scatter of flint flakes was revealed on the eastern side of the hill to east of the stream, although here the accumulation of colluvium was more modest and the density of finds much lower. As in the evaluation, the indications are that this material represents a mixture of Mesolithic and later prehistoric material, which has accumulated at the foot of the hill as a result of slope erosion.</p> <p>The topsoil stripping revealed two linear features which produced pottery of middle or late Bronze Age date (c.1150 BC . 900 BC). The ditches extended down the western side of the hill towards the stream. Towards the top of the hill the features were heavily truncated by ploughing and slope erosion.</p> <p>A thin scatter of unstratified Roman, medieval and post-medieval pottery, all showing signs of considerable abrasion, was recovered during the machining.</p> <p><em>East of Station Road</em></p> <p>A light distribution of struck flint from the site suggests earlier prehistoric activity in the area, although it is unlikely that any of features, even the stratigraphically early ones, are earlier in date than the late Iron Age.</p> <p>A number of sparsely distributed ditches and gullies were revealed under layers of colluvium and alluvium. Finds were sparse and the pottery was mainly late Iron Age/ early Roman grogtempered ware, suggesting that the site represents a series of field boundaries and drainage ditches dating to c. 100BC . AD100. A small concentration of pottery from the central part of the site, in association with some minor gullies and possible post-holes, suggests limited occupation of some kind here, although no structures could be identified. The baulks between trenches 12 and 14 were removed to expose an area of intercutting ditches. A deep trench was machine-excavated in the lowest part of the site (Trench 17) in order to recover waterlogged environmental indicators. Samples were taken for macro-organic material, pollen, insects and snails. The stump of an oak tree was also recovered. Pottery recovered from the section indicates that the upper part of the alluvial sequence is of Late Iron Age date.</p> <p>A number of post-medieval linear features were also present, principally including a large east-west aligned ditch. The other features were land-drains of several phases.</p>

牛津考古工作队（Oxford Archaeological Unit）受联合铁路（南部）有限公司（Union Railways (South) Ltd，URS）委托，对位于肯特郡塞林奇附近斯米思教区内的教堂巷与站路东侧两处毗邻场地开展详细考古调查，调查中心点的英国国家网格坐标（NGR）为TR 07796 38400。两处揭土区域的面积分别为2.5公顷与2.1公顷。本次工作是CTRL（英法海峡隧道铁路连接线）建设前期开展的大规模考古调查项目的组成部分。两处场地被一条无名溪流（东斯托尔河支流）分隔。
<p><em>教堂巷场地</em></p>
<p>4号探区面积约0.18公顷，旨在调查溪流边缘一处疑似中石器时代（Mesolithic）遗物散布点。仅4号探区的西部区域发育冲积/坡积堆积（alluvial/colluvial deposits），在约200平方米的范围内出土了超过160件燧石片（flint flakes）。溪流东侧的山坡上也发现了另一处燧石片散布点，但此处坡积物厚度较薄，遗物密度也低得多。与试掘结果一致，本次出土遗存显示为中石器时代与后世史前时期遗物的混合体，因山坡侵蚀作用堆积于山麓地带。</p>
<p>表土清理作业揭露出两处线性遗迹，出土了属于中青铜时代至晚青铜时代（约公元前1150年—公元前900年）的陶器。两条壕沟沿山坡西侧向溪流延伸。在山坡顶部区域，遗迹因耕作与坡面侵蚀遭到严重破坏。</p>
<p>表土剥离过程中还回收了一批未经原生层位的罗马时期、中世纪及后中世纪时期陶器，所有器物均显示出明显的磨蚀痕迹。</p>
<p><em>站路东侧场地</em></p>
<p>场地内出土的零星打制燧石表明该区域存在更早的史前活动痕迹，但即便地层年代较早的遗迹，其年代也不会早于铁器时代（Iron Age）晚期。</p>
<p>在坡积物与冲积物层下揭露了若干零星分布的壕沟与冲沟。出土遗物较为稀少，陶器以铁器时代晚期/罗马早期羼砂陶器（grogtempered ware）为主，表明该场地为一系列建于公元前100年—公元100年左右的农田边界与排水壕沟。场地中部有一处小型陶器聚集区，伴生少量小型冲沟与疑似柱洞遗迹，暗示此处曾存在有限规模的人类活动，但未发现建筑遗存。为揭露一处相互叠压的壕沟区域，工作人员移除了12号与14号探沟之间的隔梁。为获取含水环境遗存样本，工作人员在场地最低处（17号探沟）开展了机械开挖作业，采集了大有机质遗存、孢粉、昆虫及蜗牛样本，同时还出土了一段橡树树桩。从剖面出土的陶器判断，冲积堆积序列的上层年代为铁器时代晚期。</p>
<p>场地内还存在若干后中世纪时期的线性遗迹，其中主要为一条东西走向的大型壕沟，其余遗迹为多期农田排水渠。