Aerial Photography

An important survey

technique in the discovery and recording of archaeological sites. See also our aerial photography project page.

Alum

The processing of alum from shale is often considered as the earliest chemical industry in the British Isles. The alum industry began in Yorkshire from the first decade of the 1600s with large quarries at Guisborough, Loftus and Boulby. Alum was principally used in the textile industry as a fixing agent for dyes. It was also used by tanners to produce a more supple leather.

Amphorae

The remains of these pottery vessels can be found on Roman sites. They were large storage vessels imported from the continent and contained olive oil, wine and fish paste.

Anti-invasion defences

During World War II there was a real threat of a German invasion. To defend against this a string of defences was set up rapidly across the nation. These defences consisted of obstacles such as anti-tank cubes, ditches, barbed wire and mine fields. Although they were not called upon, their remains now stand as a monument to this harrowing time of conflict.

Archaeology

The study of the human past through investigation of material remains.

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Barrow

See Burial Mound

Beaker Period

Beaker is a term given to a period of time from the later Neolithic to the early Bronze Age (2000BC – 1600 BC). The period is named after a characteristic pottery known as beaker ware which is a style of well made, highly decorated pottery introduced from the continent. Beaker decoration is highly distinctive with impressed encircling lines made with cord or combs on the fabric surface. These designs are highly decorative and geometric and include herringbone and lozenge patterns.

Blast Furnace

The blast furnace is a large structure approximately 30 metres high lined with firebricks which can withstand temperatures of 2000 degrees centigrade. The purpose of the furnace is to reduce iron ores into a liquid metal which can be tapped off and separated from the resulting slag. Such furnaces are normally heated by blasting pre-heated air to the base of the furnace through nozzles.

Brigantes

During the Iron Age and Roman period the country was broken down into a series of tribal units. The main tribe in the Teesside area would have been the Brigantes who occupied a large part of modern Yorkshire during the period.

Burial Mound

A mound of earth or stone covering one or more burials (inhumations or cremations). Burial mounds are also known as barrows, cairns or tumuli. Burial mounds take a number of forms including round barrows and long barrows. Burial mounds are most often associated with the Bronze Age but were also in use in the Neolithic, Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon periods.

Celtic Heads

Celtic Heads are an unusual monument from the Iron Age and Romano-British period. The heads are carved from stone and usually appear to be males with broad foreheads and pointed chins. Their eyes are usually protruding and fish shaped and they have slight noses and thin lips. Additional detail often includes horns or moustaches. Celtic heads are poorly understood but it is thought that they represent a pagan god and may have been set on an altar.

Cist

Pronounced ‘Kist’. A cist is a stone lined grave, usually rectangular in plan with a capping stone. These cists may or may not have been part of a burial mound. Cist burials are common in the Bronze Age and Romano-British periods.

Context

Usually a detailed description of the exact location of an artefact or archaeological feature which demonstrates its provenance and its association with other remains.

Crop Mark

Cereals growing over archaeological features ripen at different rates. Where there are buried pits and gullies the crops darken and ripen earlier as there is greater moisture content in the ground. Where crops grow over buried walls they become deprived of nutrients and the crops are thinner and lighter in colour. These patterns are particularly apparent from the air.

Cup and ring marks

These rock carvings consist of a hemispherical depression, or cup, cut into a flat surface, often surrounded by a series of concentric rings. Designs are often connected by grooves. These Bronze Age carvings remain a mystery and their meaning is not properly understood.

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Dark Ages

This term is used to describe the Anglo-Saxon period between the Roman and Medieval periods. It was traditionally thought that this period represented a regression in achievement when compared to the preceding Roman period. This view is no longer popularly supported as rich and diverse Anglo-Saxon sites continue to surprise us with a wealth of culture and finds.

Dendrochronology

The study of tree-ring patterns which can be used as the basis for dating a site or assessing its environment.

Domesday Book

Pronounced ‘Doomsday Book’. William the Conqueror was a great organiser and established a survey of his new kingdom following his successful invasion in 1066 AD. The survey began in 1080 AD and recorded the size and value of every manor in the land. As William had ransacked most of the North-East in his Harrying of the North, most Teesside settlements are recorded as ‘Waste’. Despite William’s best efforts he never really took complete control of ancient Northumberland and the Tees remained a serious obstacle. For this reason settlements to the north of the river were not assessed.

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Excarnation

The process of leaving a body to decay fully before its burial. The corpse would literally be left to the elements, often on a specially constructed platform, until all the soft tissue had been removed. This ritual was observed in the Neolithic period with the bones being later transferred to a communal tomb such as a long barrow.

Field system

A group of fields arranged for convenience of use and marked out by permanent boundaries. These fields may be extremely ncient in origin from the Bronze Age onwards.

Flint

A hard glassy rock which flakes easily and can be worked to produce a sharp cutting edge. Used in prehistoric times for the manufacture of tools and weapons such as scrapers and arrowheads.

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Geophysical survey

This term relates to a suite of archaeological techniques used to remotely detect sites without need for excavation. These techniques include geomagnetic survey and resistivity survey.

GIS (Geographic Information System)

GIS is a system for viewing and manipulating map based information on a personal computer. Archaeologists use it to plot the distribution of archaeological sites and to investigate patterns and trends within the data.

Historical research

Many past cultures left written records behind them. In the British Isles this is particularly relevant to the study of medieval and post medieval archaeology.

Hunter-gatherers

A term describing a society whose main sources of food are hunted wild animals and gathered wild fruits, nuts and other edible plants. Seafood was probably also very important in a hunter-gatherer’s diet. This lifestyle is still carried on in some cultures such as the Native Americans, Kalahari Bushmen and Australian Aborigines. In the British Isles this was the primary

ode of subsistence in the Mesolithic period.

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Inhumation

The burial of a complete unburnt corpse.

Ironstone

Ironstone was the basis of the industrial revolution on Teesside. Vast seams of ironstone underlie much of East Cleveland and it was mined industrially from 1850.

Long Barrow

The characteristic type of Neolithic burial mound in the area. Long Barrows consist of a long trapezoidal or rectangular mound of earth and stone with an entrance at one of the short ends. The entrance passage leads to a central chamber of wood or stone in which the human remains were deposited. The central chamber may have a number of linked side chambers. The entrance to the monument may have been particularly ceremonial. There is often evidence for a forecourt where ritual activity took place.

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Medieval

The time period covering the Viking and Norman rule from about 800 AD to 1600 AD. This is a particularly important period of history when many of the major settlements of Teesside were formalised.

Mesolithic

A time period covering the years from about 12,000 BC to 3,200 BC. Mesolithic literally means ‘Middle Stone Age’ and lies between the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) and the Neolithic (New

Stone Age). In Europe the Mesolithic is characterised by hunter-gatherers who moved around the landscape to exploit wild resources using flint tools often dominated by microliths.

Microlith

A small stone tool, usually made of flint or chert, consisting of a segment of blade blunted on one or both sides and hafted into an arrow shaft or handle as a projectile or other tool. The first half of the Mesolithic is characterised by larger and more robust

microliths. These become smaller and more geometric in shape

later in the period. The very late Mesolithic has exceptionally small microliths known as microlithic rods.

Neolithic

A time period covering the years from about 3,200BC to 1,800

BC. Neolithic literally means ‘New Stone Age’ and lies between the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and the Bronze Age. In Europe the Neolithic is characterised by the advent of farming. This led to a more settled way of life with permanent villages and the building of stone monuments such as stone circles and chambered tombs.

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Palaeolithic

The time period covering the years before about 12,000 BC to three and a half million years ago. Palaeolithic literally means ‘Old Stone Age’ and is succeeded by the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age). During the Palaeolithic much of Northern Europe was still covered with ice and sites of this period in North-East England are extremely rare. On Teesside we have records of finds of fossilised bones of Palaeolithic animals such as woolly rhino and mammoth but so far no evidence of human activity has been identified. Elsewhere human activity is recognised in the form of some of the earliest stone tools such as hand-axes and magnificent cave paintings such as those in southern France.

Prehistory

The period of human history before the advent of written records. In the British Isles this comprises the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and all but the later parts of the Iron Age which were described by the Romans.

Quern

Pronounced ‘kwern’. A shaped stone use for milling grain. Earlier querns (Neolithic and Bronze Age) take the form of a ‘saddle’ which forms a rubbing surface against which grain is hand milled with a separate hand held rubbing stone. Later querns are known as ‘rotary’ or ‘beehive’ querns. These consist of a round bottom stone with a conical top stone above. The conical top stone has a perforated centre allowing grain to be fed through which is ground between the two stones when the top stone is turned by means of a handle.

Resistivity Survey

A technique of Geophysical survey that measures changes in the

conductivity of the soil by passing an electrical current through it. Changes in conductivity are usually caused by differing groundwater content. By plotting these changes over a grid it is possible to detect buried features. For example a buried wall will be a less moist area than a backfilled ditch which will contain looser and more organic material.

Roman Period

England was under Roman control for 350 years from the mid 1st century AD to around 400 AD. There are few bona-fideRoman sites in Teesside and the term Romano-British is more commonly used to describe sites of this period.

Romano-British

The term Romano-British is used to distinguish native sites in use during the Roman occupation. Many distinctly Roman sites are known in the North-East including forts, signal stations and villas. However the majority of sites of the period are native and continued in much the same pattern of use as they had in the Iron Age. The natives obviously interacted with the Romans and we  find luxury Roman imports on native sites which were traded for staple resources such as grain and meat.

Samian Ware

A distinctive red, highly polished earthenware pottery mass-produced in between 100AD and 300AD mainly in Roman Gaul. This pottery is often highly decorated with figures, animals and geometric designs.

Scrapers

A common flint tool used for processing animal skins and meat. The scraper is usually a flat disc or crescent of flint with one or more worked scraping edges.

Signal Stations

In the late Roman period the Romans were under increasing pressure from seaward invasion along the coast. Signal stations were set up at intervisible points along the north-east coast, certainly from Saltburn to Filey, to give advance warning of attack. The signal stations consisted of stone towers holding beacons which were defended with a small fort

Sites and Monuments Record

The Sites and Monuments Record is a computerised database of all archaeological sites in the area. It is principally used by researchers and for development control purposes.

Stratigraphy

The study of a series of layers of archaeological deposits. The assumption is usually made that the vertical section can be considered a slice through time demonstrated by various horizontal layers. The deepest of these layers in a simple stratigraphic section would normally be the earliest. It is often possible to date these horizontal layers by artefact content.

Stone axeheads

These are a common find from the Neolithic period. A number of centres around the British Isles and further afield produced stone axeheads. Examinations of the axeheads can usually identify the exact source of the parent rock. Greenstone axeheads from the Langdale area of the Lake District were particularly well distributed across the country.

See Burial Mound

Typology

The systematic organisation of artefacts into chronological types based on their shared attributes such as shape or material. One of the earliest archaeological typologies was the Three Age system developed by Thomsen, a Danish scholar, in the 1830s. Thomsen argued that prehistoric material could be split into finds from the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age based principally on their raw materials. This was somewhat of a breakthrough at the time and the terms are still in current use today.

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Vikings

Viking raids began in England in the 8th century AD. The monastery at Lindisfarne was attacked in 793AD and most of the north was under Viking control within 100 years.

Villas

Villas were Roman mansions or country houses with a surrounding estate. They were built to a regular plan and often had luxury features such as bathhouses, under floor heating and mosaic floors. This way of life was soon copied by native Britons who gravitated towards this Roman ideal, although their attempts at this gentrification were rather more humble.

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