Roman burial chamber unearthed near Faversham
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By Sian Napier
snapier@thekmgroup.co.uk
Archaeologists have made exciting discoveries at a site just
outside Faversham where a late Roman burial ground has
been found.
The 4th century sarcophagus is built from chalk blocks and
Kentish ragstone with a terracotta lid covering the grave slot.
Its alignment shows it is a Christian burial.
The discovery has been made in pasture land at Syndale Park, an
area which has attracted attention from as early as the 18th
century.
Now, a team of archaeologists under the direction of Dr
Paul Wilkinson, who runs the Faversham-based Kent Archaeological
Field School, has been excavating in the field, just off the main
road by Syndale Park.
Several different floors have been found, made from flint
cobbles and compacted chalk, as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd century
ditches.
In Roman times this site, which was just outside the Roman town
of Durolevum, contained a cemetery with cremation burials, as well
as shops and industry.
Dr Wilkinson said: “Field survey and geophysical investigation,
supported by limited excavation by the field school, has shed new
light on the nature and extent of monuments within the park, which
in turn has led to a wider investigation of the land north and
south of the Roman Watling Street which runs east/west through the
park.”
Dr Wilkinson added that some of the early ditches on the site
could possibly date from the Roman invasion of England in AD43 but
much work was still needed before archaeologists could be certain
about this.
Many of the coin finds date from the 4th century but a large
Roman ditch has been dated by coins and pottery to the early 1st
century AD.
“We have also found a Roman kiln or oven, Roman cremation
burials and Roman Watling Street as the study site lies within a
rich archaeological landscape,” Dr Wilkinson added.
“To the west are the standing remains of Stone Chapel, a
scheduled monument, subject to a recent investigation by the field
school which concluded it was built as a Romano-Celtic temple and
then probably rebuilt as a Christian church.”
Excavations in the 1920s at Syndale Park found the remains of
Roman houses along the A2 (Watling Street) and the remains of two
skeletons.
When the latest dig at the site finishes it will be carefully
filled in to preserve the remains after being photographed and
drawn.
Dr Wilkinson said about 80 small items had been found at the
site so far, including coins, pottery, pins and copper brooches, as
well as lots of nails.
While we were covering the dig a coin featuring Constantine the
Great was found, as well as a brooch.
The coin, minted in Trier, carried the legend Glory to the
Army.
Tuesday, September 07 2010
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