Stevenson, Jim; (2013) Living by the sword: the archaeology of Brisley Farm, Ashford, Kent

Abstract

The discovery of two warrior burials, during excavations at Brisley Farm in 2001, heralded the start of a decade of research on these exceptional finds. The burials were interred about a generation apart, at c AD 10 and c AD 50 and are the latest known warrior burials from Britain, with clear national and international significance. However, these finds are just the centrepiece of investigations that have revealed widespread evidence of the development of the ancient landscape spanning some three millennia. At its height, in the Late Iron Age, Brisley Farm was the focus for an exceptional settlement that combined interrelated ritual and domestic elements and has revealed evidence of everyday life, and death, on the eve of the Roman Conquest. This volume presents the findings of ten archaeological sites investigated at Brisley Farm, Chilmington Green, Ashford, between 1998 and 2009, and at a nearby site, Christchurch CE High School, Ashford, excavated in 2003. Evidence for activity ranges from the Mesolithic through to the early post-medieval, with a focus on the development from a Bronze Age through to medieval landscape.