A number of urned cremation burials were located around the east and south-eastern side of the C-shaped enclosure ring ditch.

The first cremation burial was found within a pit cut on the eastern side of the C-shaped enclosure, dug through the top of the ring ditch fill. The pit was subcircular, 0.80m in diameter and up to 0.20m deep with its flat base cut into the bedrock, and a funerary urn lay on its side within the pit although a large part of the uppermost side of the vessel had been destroyed by later ploughing. No other finds were present but oak charcoal was found in palaeoenvironmental samples of the fill, and 1490.3g of cremated human bone was recovered from an adult, possibly female individual. A 14C date of 1882–1681 cal BC at 93.8% confidence was obtained from the cremated bone.

Three additional urned cremations were located close to one another near the south-eastern outer edge of the ring ditch. The three pits were all subcircular features 0.40m–0.60m across and 0.21m – 0.25m deep with flat rock-cut bases, though their profiles varied with one having near vertical sides, a moderate slope in a second, and an irregular gradient in the third. Collared Urns in the first and third pits were found on their side and had again been damaged by ploughing with the upper side of the urns destroyed. It is unclear if the urns had originally been laid on their sides, or if later ploughing had clipped the vessels and dragged them over. Both burials contained small accessory cups – the example in one of those cremation burials was inverted and within the Collared Urn alongside the cremated bone, whereas the accessory vessel in third cremation burial was within the pit lying against the outer wall of the Collared Urn, thought it may have fallen out of the larger pot when it was truncated. The second pit also contained a Collared Urn but no accessory vessel – the urn was found lying at an angle and plough truncation had removed a large part of the upper profile which may well destroyed any smaller pot placed within it.

The first of the three additional urned cremations also contained two refitting fragments of a broken flint flake, possibly a discoidal tool, along with 3305.7g of human bone representing the remains of two adults with one larger and one slighter skeleton of possible biologically male and female individuals. Oak charcoal, fish bones, a hazelnut shell and one charred cereal grain were retrieved from samples. A 14C date of 1696–1538 cal BC at 84.5% confidence was obtained from the bone. The second cremation burial yielded 1442.5g of human bone from an adult but also from an infant aged six to twelve months old. Oak charcoal was found in samples, and a 14C date of 775–1623 cal BC at 85.8% was obtained from the bone. The third cremation burial contained a broken and heavily burnt flint flake or blade along with a possible piece of flint debitage; along with 1216.3g of human bone from an adult, possibly female individual. No 14C date was obtained from this burial, but oak charcoal, a hazelnut shell and a barley cereal grain were recovered from samples.

A further pit in close proximity to these three urned cremations was more disturbed and contained urn fragments. The pit was up to 0.79m across and 0.30m deep with a dark brownish grey fill – some slight reddening was evident on the bedrock base which might again indicate the movement of hot material from the pyre site of the cremation. It is likely that the associated Collared Urn was truncated and destroyed by ploughing, and the smaller quantity of human bone recovered (320.9g) was from an adult individual. Oak and hawthorn charcoal and charred grass tubers were recovered from samples. No 14C date was obtained from this burial.

A fifth urned cremation pit containing a cremation burial was located approximately 13m north-west of the ring ditch, roughly equidistant between the C-shaped enclosure and the hengiform feature. The oval cut was up to 0.60m long, 0.40m wide and 0.20m deep, with vertical sides and a flat bedrock base. The collared urn was also found on its side and although much of one side had been destroyed by ploughing, it contained another accessory vessel – an unusual miniature bi-partite Food Vessel. The cremated human remains weighing 1432.5g were from an adult and an infant, and charred oak and hawthorn charcoal was also recovered. No 14C date was obtained from this burial.

The fills within the cremation burial pits were all fairly similar and consisted of dark brown, friable sandy silt, although two deposits varied in having very dark greyish and reddish-brown silty sand. Four fills also contained varying amounts of small to large stone fragments, whilst two fills contained visible charcoal flecks along with burnt human bone fragments.

The 14C dating suggests that three of the cremation burials may have formed a group. The first cremation burial was cut into the silted-up ring ditch fill, whilst four cremation burials 3–6 appeared to respect the position of the ring ditch, suggesting the C-shaped enclosure was already in existence when the burials took place. They are all therefore assumed to represent a slightly later phase than the cremation burial within the C-shaped enclosure. One of the cremation burials is statistically slightly later and also contained typologically different pottery and is thus more likely to have been a later feature. Three cremation burials appeared to form a straight line, but it is unclear whether or not this was due to them respecting one of the straight-sections of the C-shaped ring ditch or if this reflected some form of familial or other social relationship between them.

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