A total of two confirmed cremations were recovered from the centre of the barrow, whilst another possible cremation was represented beside these as a small pit although no bone was recovered from the feature. Each of these features was located very close to each other, with the cremations covering an area no more than 1m wide. The cremated bone recovered from both burials was in a poor state of preservation and weighed significantly less than the average bone weight produced by modern crematoria. This meant that not a huge amount of information could be gleaned from the cremations. It was confirmed that each cremation only contained a single individual and that the age of the individual from the cremation was most likely an older juvenile or adolescent (7-18 years old).

The cremated bone assemblage from Blyth was in a poor state of preservation, exhibiting noticeable post-mortem breakage, and poor retention of surface detail, mainly due to the small size of the bone fragments. Moderate warping and bone cracking, which occurs commonly during the cremation process, was evident, affecting all the bones represented.

The amount of bone retrieved from the two burials (4.3g and 1.3g) weighed significantly less than the average bone weight produced by modern crematoria.

The cremated bones were white in colour, indicating that it was very well burnt, causing the complete loss of the organic portion of the bone.

The majority of identifiable bones were derived from unidentified long bone shaft fragments. However, two fragments of mandible could be identified in one burial.

Thermal fractures are commonly observed in cremation remains, and distinct types of fractures can be noticed on bones from the same burial and/or even on the same bone fragment.

The remains recovered in the two burials allowed the identification of only one individual in each burial, as no repetitions or differences related to age could be identified.

No skeletal elements diagnostics for sex estimation were present for the individuals.

The cremated remains from one burial probably belonged to an old juvenile or adolescent (7-18 years old), based on the long bone thickness, however, it must be acknowledged that this is not a reliable ageing method. It was yet more difficult to assess age in the other burial since even no diagnostic criteria, such as teeth were preserved.

In this case, manifestations of disease were not observed amongst any of the cremated remains.

Leigh Brocklehurst, 2019, Land off Blyth Road, Blyth, Bassetlaw: Report on a Scheme of Archaeological Mitigation (Unpublished document). SNT5821.