Landscape, Monumentality and Expression of Group Identities in Iron Age and Roman East Kent

Abstract

The social organization of Iron Age and Roman east Kent has been subjected to generalizing commentary from Caesar to the present. One factor preventing detailed analysis is the relative lack of archaeological investigations, particularly in the hinterland of Canterbury. The first phase of the Canterbury Hinterland Project has undertaken aerial photographic and LiDAR analysis across east Kent and multiple-technique geophysical surveys and analysis of previous investigations at five rural sites and most extensively at Bourne Park, where limited excavation was also undertaken. This work has uncovered possible hillforts, ‘Romano-Celtic’ temples, large enclosures, a major trackway, linking paths, burials, and high-status Roman-period complexes. We present key findings here and explore how natural and man-made features are connected across the landscape. We argue that humans have made the landscape communicate meaning in two main ways: a ‘public’ face of power oriented towards the Dover to Canterbury road route and a more local or rural expression of ritual and remembrance for the local groups. The population of the hinterland of Canterbury has tended to be viewed simply in terms of its relationship to the civitas capital and villas. The most complete view of the archaeological record of this area to date, and one that does not continue the traditional focus on villas to the exclusion of other evidence, allows a much more detailed reconstruction of possible social identities and interactions.