Three pits were excavated, all located in the southern part of the site beneath the subsoil cutting the natural Mercia Mudstone.

One pit was oval in form, measured 1.9m by 1.72m wide at the mouth and was 0.6m in depth. It was located at a height of 131.28m OD. It had concave sides and a flat base. The Mercia Mudstone in the vicinity of the pit had been burnt. Initially this burning was thought to be the edge of the feature but careful examination revealed that it extended intermittently for 2.5m to the north-west of the feature where it had been truncated by a quarry haul road. No dating evidence was encountered to establish when the underlying geology had been heat affected. The pit had been backfilled with brown clay deposits containing variable quantities of charcoal and burnt bone. Unworked pieces of angular skerry were found within each layer, with a concentration in the southern half of the basal layer. The skerry pieces did not form a discrete feature, but were characteristic of material dumped into the pit during backfilling. Ceramic artefacts, worked flint and bunt clay were recovered during the excavation and from a number of the environmental samples that have been analysed. A preliminary assessment of the finds was undertaken. The pottery derives from an unknown number of Beaker pots dating from the late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age periods. The associated flintwork cannot be closely dated, but could derive from the same phase of activity as the Beaker sherds. Artefacts were present throughout all the deposits, with the exception of one fill that had not yet been processed. It is therefore the case that the pottery vessels from which the fragments derive had already been broken prior to being deposited into the pit. Furthermore, the pottery and the flint do not show evidence of burning, indicating that they had not been placed within the fire which burnt the bone.

The second feature was a very truncated sub-circular feature, measuring 0.82m in width and 0.12m in depth. It was located downslope of the first pit at a height of 124.58OD. It had concave sides and a flat base. The charcoal-rich reddish brown clay fill contained no finds to assist with dating.

The dimensions and fill of the third feature were similar to that of the second feature being 0.76m by 0.68m in width and up to 0.12m in depth and infilled with charcoal-rich reddish brown clay. An oval depression measuring 0.44m by 0.26m wide and up to 0.16m deep was recorded in its south-east quadrant. Flat pieces of angular skerry were recovered from near its base. The depression might have served as a posthole, but interpretation remains problematic. No other associated features were recorded and no datable finds were recovered. It too was located downslope of the first pit, at a height of 124.88 OD.

The finds recovered from the first pit are consistent with general domestic activity indicating that settlement of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date was located on the higher, flatter ground in the south-west part of the site.

Beaker pottery is comparatively rare in Nottinghamshire and thus the assemblage from the site is of regional importance. The recovery of both flintwork and Beaker pottery from the same feature is of particular interest.

Matt Hurford, 2013, Dorket Head Brickworks, Arnold, Nottingham: An Archaeological Watching Brief, Page 8-9 (Unpublished document). SNT5704.