Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (608 page)

Riley , Derrick
(1915–93)
[Bi].

British archaeologist and pioneer of aerial archaeology. Born in Matlock, Derbyshire, he was brought up in Norfolk and educated at King's School, Ely, and Haileybury College. On leaving school he joined United Steel in Scunthorpe as a trainee manager, and it was at this time that he began his archaeological fieldwork with investigations at Risley Warren. During the war he served with the RAF in Bomber Command, flying missions in Whitleys, Wellingtons, and Mosquitoes. He was awarded the DFC for a daring raid on the Kiel Canal. After his tours of duty he was put to training pilots at Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire and it was here that he developed an interest in archaeological reconnaissance. After the war he returned to United Steel, but continued his archaeological interests with surveys and excavations. From 1970 he renewed his interest in aerial photography and in 1975 obtained a private pilot's licence. Taking early retirement in 1977 he devoted himself full-time to archaeology and recorded many prehistoric and later sites, especially around Sheffield and the Peak District. He published many books and articles documenting his work, including
Early landscapes from the air
(1981, Sheffield: Sheffield University). He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield.
[Obit.:
The Times
, 28 August 1993]

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A large Bronze Age round barrow some 25m in diameter situated on Bodmin Moor in southwest England. Excavated in 1837, an inhumation burial was found to have been deposited in a large centrally placed stone cist over 2m long and nearly 1m wide. Grave goods included a bronze dagger, pottery, and a unique biconical gold cup with a beaten plate handle attached with rivets. The cup has the form of a late Neolithic
BEAKER
, its surface ribbed in the style of corded decoration, but probably dates to the period 1650–1400 bc. Following its discovery the cup had an unusual history, as it was given to King William IV and was later used for many years by George V to hold his collar studs. It was eventually presented to the British Museum in 1936.
[Sum.: C. Hawkes , 1983, The Rillaton gold cup.
Antiquity
, 57, 124–6]

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Technique of ornamentation on pottery comprising a series of parallel channels, generally horizontal, either square-cut or forming a series of conjoined arcs in section. Fine, close-set horizontal lines formed by scribing (with a comb, for example) on the body of a pottery vessel.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of earth or stones up to about 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside and sometimes on the outside too, with small uprights or laid boulders. Within the central area there will be burials and pits with ash-rich fills, hearths, and sometimes small low cairns. Ring cairns with stone banks are mainly found in western and upland areas of the British Isles but examples with earth banks occur in southern and eastern areas. They date to the later Neolithic and Bronze Age, broadly 2000 bc through to 1000 bc.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A bedrock cut ditch or trench of circular or penannular plan, usually identified through aerial photography either as soil marks or cropmarks. When excavated, ring ditches are usually found to be the ploughed-out remains of a round barrow where the barrow mound has completly disappeared leaving only the infilled former quarry ditch.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A small circular enclosure or fort, also known as a rath. Typically between 30m and 50m in diameter they are bounded by one or more concentric earthworks comprising a bank and outer ditch. Found widely across Ireland, southwest Wales, and central Scandinavia. Within the enclosure there are usually house foundations and traces of stock pens. Such ringworks date from the early 1st millennium
bc
through to the 11th century
ad
and were mainly farms, although some were occupied by families of significantly higher status. See also
CASHEL
,
ROUND
.