Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (704 page)

A Latin term to describe the floor above a hypocaust, generally of concrete laid over a layer of tiles supported at each corner by
pilae
.

 
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Late Archaic Stage hunter-gatherer communities living in eastern Pennsylvania and southern Maine, North America, in the period 1800–1200 bc, forming part of the more widely scattered Mast Forest Tradition. The Susquehanna Culture is characterized by broad triangular stemmed points. Post-dating the Narrow Point Cultures, Susquehanna groups appear to have used elaborate burial ceremonies involving cremations and possibly multiple burials in large pits.

 
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Extensive Anglo-Saxon royal cemetery of the 6th and 7th centuries
ad
comprising more than fourteen barrows overlooking the valley of the River Deben in the southern part of East Anglia close to the Suffolk coast. Excavations in 1938–9 under the direction of Basil Brown and Charles Phillips investigated one of the largest mounds (Mound 1) which was found to contain the remains of a large boat 27m long and originally propelled by 38 oars. In the chamber in the centre of the boat was a rich collection of outstanding objects from all over Europe and beyond and dating to the 4th to 7th centuries
ad
. Although no traces of a body were found, the site is widely interpreted as the pagan memorial to King Raedwald of Essex who died in ad 625. The grave goods include a sword, shield, and decorated helmet in Swedish style, a large gold belt buckle with intricate animal interlace decoration, and a purse and cloak clasps with decoration in multi-coloured glass. There are Merovingian gold coins and silver vessels from Byzantium. Researches by Martin Carver between 1983 and 1992 on the site and in the territory it commands have shown that the kingship signalled at the site is pagan in its ideology and Scandinavian in its allegiance.
[Sum.: M. Carver (ed.), 1992,
The age of Sutton Hoo
. Woodbridge: Boydell Press]

 
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Term used to describe the ‘inverted eyebrow’ motif common on migration period pottery from north Germany, a sagging U-shaped series of incised lines.

 
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A gravel pit in the lower Thames Valley which preserved a series of river terraces containing useful environmental evidence, abundant mollusc and faunal remains, and large assemblages of Lower Palaeolithic stone tools. The lower gravel beds have a
CLACTONIAN
assemblage dating to perhaps 420000–360000 years ago, while the middle gravels yield
ACHEULIAN
material of perhaps 200000 years ago. Three fragments of a human skull (probably female) were found in 1935, 1936, and 1955 within the upper part of the middle gravels. First classified as Swanscombe Man it is now believed to be an early form of
Homo sapiens
with strong Neanderthal characteristics.
[Rep.: C. D. Overy (ed.), 1964,
The Swanscombe skull
. London: Royal Anthropological Society]

 
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Style of pin made of bronze or iron in the 1st millennium
bc
in the British Isles, distinctive in having three bends in the upper part to create an S-shaped head.

 
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