Within the enclosure interior was a pit cut into the bedrock, slightly to the east of centre. The pit was sub-oval in plan and 0.65m deep with vertical sides falling to a flat base – it contained 1322.3 grammes of cremated human bone. The lower primary deposit within the pit was a very dark greyish-black and friable silty sand with abundant quantities of cremated bone. The upper deposit was a mid-brownish-grey loose silty sand 0.12m thick with less visible bone. Once the fill was removed the bedrock beneath was visibly heat-affected suggesting that some of the cremated material was still hot when deposited. A retouched narrow flint blade was also recovered from the pit, and oak and hawthorn charcoal retrieved from samples. The cremated remains were of an adult individual (18+ years), with no skeletal elements suitable for an assessment of possible biological sex. A radiocarbon (14C) date of 1778 – 1626 cal BC at 78.1% confidence was obtained from the bone.

The scorched pit base could indicate that still-hot remains were scooped up off a pyre and deposited within the pit. The severe scorching, however, might suggest a bustum-type burial, where the body is burnt on a pyre over the top of a pit allowing the bone to fall downwards once the cremation process is complete. The 14C dates suggest that the cremation burial fell within the same date range as the urned cremations. The cremation burial thus appears qualitatively different to the other burials associated with the ring ditch, and the fact that one of the urned cremation burials was cut into the ring ditch suggests that there were at least two phases of deposition with the urned cremations probably belonging to a slightly later phase. The cremation burial could therefore be regarded as a primary or founding interment.

Jamie Patrick, 2022, An Archaeological Field Excavation on Land of Beck Lane, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire (Unpublished document). SNT5987.