Late Bronze Age pit and pottery,rail station site, London Southend Airport (EHER 48131)

A watching brief in 2009 recorded a number of small prehistoric pits and a scatter of unstratified prehistoric pottery, burnt flint and a few worked flints were identified. These are probably all Late Bronze Age, given their proximity to earlier excavated material of this period (see EHER 18227, EHER 16956, EHER 82777 and EHER 48095).

April-October 2009. Watching brief. A number of small prehistoric pits and a scatter of unstratified prehistoric pottery, burnt flint and a few worked flints were identified. These are probably all Late Bronze Age. They supplement the discovery of two further prehistoric pits during a trial-trenching evaluation of the site in 2005 (see EHER 82777), and other probable Late Bronze Age remains previously found to the west (EHER 18227) and southwest (EHER 16956). Collectively, these prehistoric remains are speculated to indicate the presence of widespread Bronze Age occupation activity in this vicinity, perhaps denoting a significant settlement site. An additional post-hole or pit contained a single sherd of grog-tempered pottery and an unidentified iron object and is of likely Late Iron Age, or later, date. <1> Note: See also EHER 48095 for Bronze Age material from nearby.