Continental Trade and Non-Urban Ports in Mid-Anglo-Saxon England: Excavations at Sandtun, West Hythe, Kent

Abstract

An area of Mid-Anglo-Saxon deposits at Sandtun in West Hythe first studied in 1947–48 by Gordon Ward was re-examined between 1993–98 during assessments made in advance of housing development and in a research excavation. The site was occupied from at least c. 700 until 850–75 with some later reuse. It lay among sand dunes formed on a sand bank near the mouth of a gradually silting inlet. A range of activities was practised by the community there, including fishing, spindlewhorl manufacture and bone-working, in addition to salt-making recorded in a charter of 732. The metalwork was not significantly different from finds on contemporary rural sites. Amongst the bones was a considerable number from fish and birds which were caught locally. The ceramic assemblage included a high proportion of imported continental pottery and it is concluded that the site may have been a landing-place for trading ships. The implications of the site for the interpretation of the development of urbanism in Mid-Anglo-Saxon England and the operation of trade are examined.