In 2007-8 Archaeology South-East carried out a strip, map and sample excavation of the site. A small Middle Bronze Age cremation cemetery was found in the northern part of the site. Six unurned cremations were found in a group (with one outlier). No finds or pottery were associated with any of the cremations. The cremations were located to the north of an apparently open landscape and were spread over an area roughly 30m in diameter following a curved line some 18m long, with cremation outlying some 12m to the west of an otherwise roughly north-south arrangement. Six unurned cremation graves were recorded but there was no direct evidence of any other funerary or ritual activity such as ring ditches or cairns. The six cremation graves all consisted of single adult individuals The small amounts of surviving bone and the degree of fragmentation to this have made it impossible to specify age or sex. Two samples of cremated bone were submitted for C14 radiocarbon dating, one was dated to 3035±35 BP (1410-1190 cal BC) and bthe other to 3015±35 BP (1390-1120 cal BC). The four other cremations are interpreted as part of this Middle Bronze Age group because of their proximity. All of the cremations were simply interred in small sub-circular pits measuring between 0.30m and 0.55m in diameter and survive to depths of between 0.07m and 0.24m.

Also dating to this period was a small pit containing a near complete possibly miniature plain globular pot. This deposit was thought to possibly relate to the cremation cemetery given the presence of burnt material. Radiocarbon dating the vessel deposit was also in the Middle Bronze Age 3105 ± 35 BP (1450-1290 cal BC) and 3130 ± 35 BP (1500-1310 cal BC) The interpretation of these features is still in debate but they are likely to be a form of cenotaph containing pyre or other fire material associated with funerary rites and ritual activities.

The choice of location for the cremation cemetery is intriguing as the topography of the site is flat and undistinguished and its location is in stark contrast to, for instance, local barrow cemeteries which are generally located on promontories or on the tops of steep slopes at high elevations on Thanet. The 18m long curved line which the cremations appear to follow perhaps respected some lost feature. The small cremation cemetery at Manston Road may have been reserved for a family or clan group associated with a nearby settlement beyond the site limits. (information summarised from sources) (1-2)

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2011, Archaeological Investigations at the former Allotments Site, Manston Road, Ramsgate, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE18206.

<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.