During excavations carried out along Star Lane ahead of the installation of a waste water pipeline Towards the north of the easement was a circular pit with a concave base and unclear sides. It measured 0.33 m in diameter, 0.29 m in depth and contained a pottery vessel (ON 502) with a diameter of c. 0.20 m. The vessel with applied, finger-impressed cordon was deposited complete, in an upright position and dates to the Middle–Late Bronze Age. The rim is missing, probably truncated by agricultural activity. The vessel contained a dark reddish–brown/black, soft clay silt deposit with a substantial charcoal component, initially interpreted as a cremation burial. Other inclusions comprised worked and burnt flint. No bone was recovered from the vessel, but the charcoal was analysed. Challinor suggests that the species recorded (mostly hawthorn/pear/apple) are consistent with pyre debris from cremation-related assemblages, particularly one from a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age unurned cremation burial from Saltwood Tunnel. Recent work on charcoal assemblages from Heathrow Terminal 5 and Eton Rowing Lake/Dorney, to the east of London, where it was possible to examine the context-related variation on domestic and funerary deposits for the general Bronze Age and Middle–Late Bronze Age respectively, demonstrates that domestic deposits tended to be more diverse than the funerary deposits (Challinor forthcoming b; in prep.). Of special interest with regards to the Star Lane deposit are a couple of the Eton cremation burials (generally of Middle Bronze Age date) which contained Maloideae-dominated assemblages. Although there is no contemporaneous material from other forms of fire from the excavated sites to confirm a distinctive range of species were being used for pyre construction at Star Lane, evidence from elsewhere suggests that the material from this vessel is likely to represent pyre debris. The apparent isolation of pit 7187 may be misleading due to the narrow excavation area. (1) (information summarised from source)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2008, Thanet's Longest Excavation: Archaeological Investigations Along the Route of the Weatherless - Margate - Broadstairs Wastewater Pipeline (Monograph). SKE53449.