Archaeology South-East carried out an evaluation in 2007. The rim of a vessel, possibly an amphora was uncovered in trench 5, possibly representing a funerary deposit. This was left in-situ to be excavated during any further works. (1)

In 2007-8 Archaeology South-East carried out a strip, map and sample excavation of the site. A total of 13 cremations were found in two groups of six with one isolated to the east. Five were accompanied or were urned: three cremations were in amphorae and one had two accessory vessels. The vessels dated to AD 40-170. The amphorae were incomplete, the upper portions perhaps being removed to facilitate the use as a cremation vessel. Post holes were found with the western group and may represent associated structures, possibly burial markers. A ditch and a number of pits were also dated to this period, as were two quarry pits. The two groups of cremations were located within rectangular enclosures, the first enclosure with entrance on the south-eastern side was at least 32m long and 16m wide. It was defined by a shallow-sided concave-based ditch which was up to 2m wide and 0.6m deep and continued beyond the excavated area. The fills of the ditch contained eight sherds of a large jar with a flat rim dating to AD 70- 160 and a single sherd of La Graufesenque samian ware. The second enclosure was located to the north of the first, it was rectangular with three ditched sides and was open to the northeast. A few sherds of abraded 1st century pottery including two from samian ware bowls were recovered from the ditch fills. Elements of this enclosure are morphologically similar to enclosure 2; which shares identical orientation and is a similar width. The profiles of the ditches were also broadly similar. The cremations were not central to the enclosure but more may have originally existed that have been truncated by a medieval ditch. All the cremations appear to be of adult individuals. The only sexually diagnostic bone fragment was of a probable adult male. The close spatial concentration of the cremations in the enclosures perhaps indicates a familial relationship between the individuals. Their close proximity also suggests that the cremations were originally marked. There are clear morphological parallels between the two mortuary enclosures. The apparent division of a burial plot may suggest that the secondary enclosure represents use of the cemetery by successive generations of the same family, or by a second family joined through matrimonial union. Ditched mortuary enclosures are usually associated with higher-status rural burials, such as at Northumberland Bottom near Gravesend where three exceptionally rich cremations buried with a gaming board, wooden furniture and bronze vessels, were found within an rectangular enclosure adjacent to a settlement (Allen and Donnelly 2008). It has also been suggested that a tenurial distinction is visible in rural burials, with landowners maintaining a formal burial space to legitimise their right to the land (2-3)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2007, Manston Road Allotments, Ramsgate, Kent. Targeted Archaeological Evaluation Report (Unpublished document). SKE17960.

<2> Archaeology South-East, 2009, Archaeological Investigations at the Former Allotments Site, Manston Road, Ramsgate, Kent: Post-excavation Assessment and Project Design for Publication (Unpublished document). SKE17961.

<3> Archaeology South-East, 2011, Archaeological Investigations at the former Allotments Site, Manston Road, Ramsgate, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE18206.