Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (101 page)

Germanic people of the middle Rhine who were settled near Geneva in the early decades of the 5th century
ad
where they established a kingdom in the Rhone Valley. The expansion of the Franks in the 6th century
ad
led to the annexation of Burgundy, but the Burgundians enjoyed periods of comparative autonomy. After the break-up of the Frankish empire in the 9th century
ad
Burgundy formed an independent kingdom until ad 1032.

 
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A small fortified position or watch-tower usually controlling a main routeway.

 
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A fortified enclosure. Saxon burhs of the 9th century
ad
onwards in southern Britain were towns or boroughs defended by a substantial earthwork. Most were constructed by
King ALFRED
and his successors as protection against the Danes.

 
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A place where human communities deliberately interred their dead, either as inhumations or cremations. Such sites may or may not be elaborated with markers or other kinds of monumental construction. Many different kinds of burial rites have been identified from archaeological evidence, but four forms of inhumation are especially recurrent through many periods over wide areas:
extended burial
where the corpse is stretched out, arms to the sides;
flexed burial
where the corpse is lying slightly to one side with knees slightly bent;
crouched burial
where the corpse is lying on its side with the legs brought up underneath, knees bent, as if asleep; and
contracted burial
where the corpse is lying on its side with the legs and arms against the chest coiled up into the foetal position. See also
PRONE BURIAL
and
SUPINE BURIAL
.

 
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A ceramic vessel in which the cremated ashes of one or more individuals are placed. See
COLLARED URN
,
BUCKET URN
,
GLOBULAR URN
.

 
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An ancient soil profile that has become sealed beneath younger material or some kind of structure so that there is marked vertical separation between the older soil profile and the more recent ground surface. Buried soils represent important sources of data for understanding the former environment and land use in an area. Where a significant area of buried soil survives, for example under a later barrow or rampart, there is abundant scope for investigating horizontal variations in land use and the study of ancient landscapes.

 
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