Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (620 page)

Clusters of five or more prehistoric round barrows, typically including bowl barrows and a range of
FANCY BARROWS
. The spacing and number of barrows varies considerably, but some of the largest such cemeteries are those around Stonehenge in England and can include more than 30 separate barrows spread over an area more than 300m across. Such cemeteries are said to be either
linear
, when there is a marked axis to the spread of barrows;
nuclear
, when the barrows form a tight cluster; or
dispersed
, when the individual barrows are spread out and lacking any obvious pattern to their arrangement. In many cases a round barrow cemetery develops around what Leslie Grinsell called a ‘founder’s barrow', usually a particularly large barrow or a Neolithic barrow that provides a focus for later activity. Few barrow cemeteries have been excavated, but where investigations have taken place there is usually abundant evidence for flat graves between and around the barrows. Such groups of burials accumulate over long periods of time, typically many centuries.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Circular panel containing a design, for example on a mosaic.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

General term applied to roughly circular houses typical of the later 2nd and 1st millennia
bc
in north-west Europe, especially the British Isles. Such houses may be of timber construction or have stone foundations with a timber superstructure. In general the doorways open in a southeasterly direction and they have central hearths. Those which functioned as dwellings would have been home to an extended family. Although the timber superstructures and thatched roofs are often regarded as a fire hazard, experiments show that these buildings can have a long life and that with a fire burning inside a layer of carbon dioxide gas builds up under the roof and serves to extinguish any stray sparks rising up towards the thatch. See
STONE HUT CIRCLES
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Tall narrow circular stone towers with conical roofs built within Irish monasteries, probably as places of refuge, from the 9th century
ad
onwards. A small number of examples were built in western Scotland and the Isle of Man. Typically such towers had several storeys, each lit by a small window. The doors were set high off the ground, making them eminently defensible. Some were later used as campaniles; others may have been built for this purpose.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Membership organization established in 1843 to promote the study of the science of man. It is one of the few institutions in Britain which still attempts to cater for all the different interests of anthropology.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Membership organization established in 1844 as a national archaeological society. Its interests span all aspects of the archaeological, architectural, and landscape history of the British Isles. It publishes the
Archaeological Journal
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search