THE "RED HILLS" OF CANVEY ISLAND. 159
were found on the "Shore Site" B at Leigh Beck. Inferior
houses were no doubt built of wattle and daub and thatched
with rushes.
Loom weights, so far, have been found on none of the Canvey
sites.
Canvey Point.
Traces of a further possible Red-hill have been found on the
marsh further east at Canvey Point. Most of the earth has
been swept away, but the shore is strewn with wave-worn
fragments of briquetage, and small pieces of Romano-British
pottery are occasionally picked up on the shore and dredged up
in the sea opposite Leigh. The marsh at this place was re-
occupied by the sea at the close of the 18th century, and is now
swept by the tides.
SUMMARY.
Conjectural History of the Canvey Red-Hills.
Sites originally all local surface deposits of sandy loam,
situated close to the Thames Estuary and above sea-level.
Period I.
Temporary occupation in Pre-Roman Period.
Pottery—Early Celtic ("gritted" ware)—left on surface.
Period II.
Continued Occupation—Industrial and Domestic—in Romano-
British Period.
Crude Red Pottery manufactured from sandy loam (quarried
at a bank face) fired in an open furnace.
The "Working Floor" followed the bank face, leaving a
"Red-floor" behind.
Waste material: Pottery, charcoal, briquetage and disin-
tegrated briquetage, all transported to the rear of the working
floor, and there levelled up, forming the "Burnt earth" layer.
Secondary Operations, Domestic and Industrial, such as the
evaporation of sea-water, carried on in part, perhaps, on burnt
earth already deposited, forming "Secondary Red-floors."
Period III.
Temporary occupation of burnt earth surface in Mediaeval
Period.