Ickham Court Farm, Ickham, Kent : Archaeomagnetic Dating Report 2002
Author(s): Paul Linford
During an archaeological evaluation by Canterbury Archaeological Trust in advance of a new housing development at Ickham in Kent, the remains of an early medieval sunken featured building were discovered. On the floor of this building, a circular area of the natural brickearth appeared to have been fired to a high temperature, leaving an extremely hard layer several centimetres thick. This may have been a hearth or possibly the base of an industrial feature such as a kiln or furnace. Archaeomagnetic analysis indicated that this surface was well fired and had acquired a stable thermoremanent magnetisation. The date of the last firing of the feature was determined to have occurred within a relatively short period in the early to mid twelfth century AD. This is in agreement with the date range suggested by the local pottery typology of about 1050 to 1125 AD, although the archaeomagnetic date is at the later end of this range.
- Report Number:
- 97/2002
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 14
- Keywords:
- Archaeomagnetism
