This cooking pot was made between 1350 and 1500 and was found sunk into the ground behind the remains of a barn in the medieval farm at Kiln Combe. The pot was most likely repurposed after being used for cooking in the farmstead. Analysis of its contents revealed grains of wheat, barley and oats and is too small for grain storage so a feeding bowl for small animals (possibly chickens) seems likely.
Archaeological finds from within the barn included a mica schist whetstone (the stone likely coming from Norway), a chalk spindle whorl and an unfinished spindle whorl. This might suggest this building was used as a work area rather than a dwelling. Sheep were kept for meat and wool and a smaller number of cattle and pig bones were uncovered. Crops of wheat, six row barley and oats were grown on this farm and we know that by the 16th century, these were common crops around the Downland. The rest of their food they would have hunted or gathered from the Eastbourne Downland area, including the coastline. A total of 19,778 marine shells were found during the excavations here. An unusually high percentage of these were limpets followed by periwinkle and oyster shells. These shell fish, as well as tell us what the people living here ate (as well as possibly the diet for their pigs), reflect the ecological conditions along the sea shore beneath Beachy Head. The rough rocky conditions are great for limpets and winkles but not suitable for oyster beds.
The farmers here were successful enough to be able to buy iron and bronze goods from local markets (though made elsewhere in sussex) and imported whetstones and quernstones.
