Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (684 page)

Extensive Iron Age
oppidum
of 300ha, extensively surveyed and excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1951–2 and more recently by Colin Haselgrove between 1981 and 1986. The site is believed to have been the principal settlement of the
BRIGANTES
in the last few centuries
bc
, and up to and after the Roman conquest.
The massive defences were mainly built in the mid 1st century
ad
, perhaps incorporating elements of earlier small enclosures. The focus appears to have been around the present-day church, in The Tofts, and in the northern part of the site. Equally important is the fact that the northwest entrance into the main occupation area was elaborate and massive in a way that was perhaps more to impress than frighten. This, coupled with the presence of imported Roman goods (including wine amphorae and tableware) suggests that the rulers of the Brigantes at this time were both powerful and well connected in international trade.
The great defences of Stanwick were only used for a short time. By the late 1st century
ad
they had fallen into disuse and the internal settlements abandoned. Historically, this coincides with the Roman conquest of the region, although it is always difficult accurately to match historical events with archaeological evidence. It is believed, however, that in the mid 1st century
ad
the leader of the Brigantes was a man named Venutius. He was anti-Roman, although his wife Cartimandua was pro-Roman. In ad 69 the Emperor Vespasian tried to establish Roman rule in northern England and the Brigantes rose in open revolt. Cartimandua sought safety outside her kingdom. An energetic governor Petillius Cerialis campaigned vigorously against Venutius between ad 71 and 74, and completed the conquest of the area soon after.
[Rep.: C. Haselgrove , P. Turnbull , and R. L. Fitts , 1990, Stanwick , North Yorkshire, Part I: Recent research and previous archaeological investigations.
Archaeological Journal
, 147, 1–15]

 
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Mesolithic lakeside settlement in the Vale of Pickering, dating to the 8th millennium
bc
, extensively excavated by J. G. D.
CLARK
between 1949 and 1951. The site is exceptional because of the quality of preservation brought about by the prevailing damp conditions. The focus of the site was a brushwood platform on the lake edge which had seemingly been used as a summer camp by people probably based on the coast at other times of the year. The finds included more that 180 barbed bone points, bone mattock heads, a wooden paddle, and a group of perforated red-deer frontlets which may have been worn as ceremonial masks or hunting camouflage.
[Rep.: P. Mellars and P. Dark , 1998,
Star Carr in context
. Cambridge and Oxford: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and Oxbow Books]

 
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Extensive Neolithic settlement on the north bank of the Danube opposite present-day Belgrade. Following its discovery in the course of clay extraction for use in making bricks, the site has been excavated on a number of occasions, notably between 1928 and 1929 by Miodrag Grbic of the National Museum in Belgrade, and intermittently between 1932 and 1938 by V. J. Fewkes for the American School of Prehistoric Research. Six main horizons have been recognized at the site, dating to between about 6000 bc and 4500 bc. However, most of the deposits at the site itself relate almost exclusively to the later phases of the Star
evo Culture, the period 4900–4600 bc.
[Sum.: R. W. Ehrich , 1977, Star
evo revisited. In V. Markotic (ed.),
Ancient Europe and the Mediterranean
. Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 59–67]

 
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Early Neolithic culture of the Balkans, dating from the period 5500 to 4600 bc, named after a type-site on the Danube near Belgrade. Part of a widespread group of broadly contemporary groups including
KARANOVO I
,
KÖROS
, and
CRI
. The presence of sickles and saddle querns is evidence of cereal cultivation, and there is also evidence for the domestication of sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle, though the economy was still supplemented by hunting and fishing. Pottery comprised principally coarse wares, commonly globular vessels with rusticated ornament, and other material remains include characteristic bone spatulae and clay figurines. Star
evo Culture settlements are generally situated on the upper terraces of river valleys or on the edges of plateaux. The settlements rarely form mounds and almost never form tells, perhaps indicating a degree of adaptation to the more temperate environment. Cattle bones also exceed those of sheep/goat in the northern regions, again suggesting local adaptations to environmental conditions. The culture was succeeded locally by the
VIN
A CULTURE
.