The human bones had been found at a depth of 80cm during the construction of a foundation trench for a new building. The recovered remains consisted of the rear section of the cranium (the occipital and the majority of the left and right parietal bones), some fragments of mandible and five teeth. The cranial vault showed thickening of the bone which would be indicative of Paget’s disease. The break on the cranial bones was fresh and had been made by the digger on site. Fragments of human bone could be seen in the edge of the trench which was not excavated further, leaving any other human remains in situ.

Not enough of the assorted contexts was revealed to understand whether the human remains were from an articulated burial or redeposited from a disturbed one. In addition while it is extremely likely given the location and situation within the contexts, that this is a redeposited historic burial, it was not possible to be certain of this. As such the remains were removed by the Newark CID and sent for Radiocarbon Dating to provide certainty that they were archaeological in nature.
There are a number of possible archaeological explanations for the existence of human remains on this site. The remains were found alongside the Fosse Way on the outskirts of the Roman town of Ad Pontem. It was usual Roman practice to bury people alongside the road outside towns. There was also a significant medieval battle around the village which resulted in many casualties, and some of these have already been identified elsewhere around the village. A third possibility is that this could represent the remains from a crossroads burial. These are poorly studied burials, but it was common practice for criminals and outcasts to be buried at crossroads, rather than within the consecrated ground of the churchyard.
It is not possible to posit further as very little of the contexts around the remains were revealed. The only dating material observed was a small fragment of Midland Yellow pottery, which came from the same context as the skull.
Information provided by the police suggested that the foundation trenches where the remains were discovered were unlikely to extend further. The community archaeologists advised that it would be beneficial, should the landowner so wish, to have an archaeologist present on site if further groundworks were to take place

E. Gillott, A SITE INSPECTION AT THE FORMER PAUNCEFORTE ARMS, EAST STOKE (Unpublished document). SNT5312.