Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (185 page)

A bow-brooch with a small headplate and long footplate. From the headplate protrude three knobs; the footplate is normally shaped into an animal head with eyes and nostrils. Found in Jutland and Holstein from the late 4th century. During the 5th and 6th centuries
ad
cruciform brooches spread across the North Sea to Britain.

 
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A technique widely used in medieval times for making timber-frame buildings such as houses and barns. The main feature of such buildings is the use of a series of frames made in the shape of an inverted ‘V’ along the length of the building, each frame, or ‘cruck’, being made from a pair of large timbers (known as blades) usually cut from the same tree. The base of each cruck is often set on a base pad or low wall. The crucks take the full weight of the roof and also serve to support the walls of the building.

 
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A type of bronze dress fastener characterized by a simple shaft with a short cross-piece set in the form of a T. Some examples have decoration on the upper part of the shank and head. Dating to the 15th century
bc
they are found in southern Britain in association with
WESSEX CULTURE
II graves and on the continent in Rienecke A2 contexts.

 
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Disturbances and the rearrangement of clasts within soils and subsoils as a result of freeze–thaw processes in periglacial conditions. Convection currents and pressure caused by ice crystals in subsoils that refreeze after a seasonal thaw act to rotate stones and soil particles, with the result that they show marked structuring. Such structures, for example ice-wedges, pingos, stripes, stone rings, and involutions, can be misidentified as archaeological features.

 
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1
Latin term for the bedroom in a Roman house.
2
Latin term for a chamber in a
CATACOMB
that was used for rites and ceremonies connected with the dead.

 
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Romanian version of the Neolithic
TRIPOLYE CULTURE
, named for a type-site west of the River Prut.

 
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