An enclosed cremation cemetery is a burial place comprising one or more deposites of burnt human remains intered within a roughly circular or oval enclosure bounded by a bank and outer ditch. The type-site for this class of monument is Stonehenge in its earliest phase, but some smaller and less elaborate monuments also belong to this class.
Enclosed cremation cemeteries are usually recognized as earthworks, as circular cropmark enclosures visible on aerial photographs, or as features brought to light during excavation. Present evidence suggests that these sites are often situated in the vicinity of henges or other late Neolithic ritual/ceremonial monuments. Enclosed cremation cemeteries can, however, be confused with various other classes of monument or their components, especially: henges and hengi-form monuments, which are distinguished by their characteristic boundary features; ditched round barrows of various classes, which are distinguished by the presence, or former presence, of a central mound; and various later prehistoric settlement enclosures which stand out because of their internal structures and the range of finds they yield.
Specifically excluded from this definition are ring-cairns which are generally smaller than enclosed cremation cemeteries, and are generally of later date.
Present evidence suggests that enclosed cremation cemeteries were essentially burial places and ceremonial foci of late Neolithic date. As such they may well have been just one of a range of classes having similar functions at that time.