Walking through the British countryside often leaves you with numerous questions and no means of finding the answers in one, readily accessible place. This new encyclopedia by Richard Muir contains almost 1,000 entries which provide explanations of terms, features and concepts connected with the history and archaeology of the landscape. Short definitions and descriptions are joined by longer discussions of themes, concepts and approaches such as the origins of the village green, the parish, milestones, and the meaning of words Dalloch, souterrain and watergate. A useful aid for those investigating the landscape and a handy reference for those who seek a more informed landscape experience.

The Peak District has been inhabited by humans for tens of thousands of years, beginning the process that irreperably changed the shape of the landscape. This volume focuses on this relationship between human settlers and farmers and the landscape showing how both have been affected by the other. Following a brief examination of the earliest evidence for hunter-gatherers, principally stone artefacts and cave sites, the authors focus on the activity that, more than anything else, has shaped the landscape that we see today, agriculture. The study searches for evidence of the earliest farmers in the remains of fields, structures, sacred monuments and burials, including over 500 barrows. The authors trace fluctuations in farmers' fortunes, especially during the Iron Age when the climate changed for the worse. Supported by maps, photographs and illustrations, the book discusses the impact of hillforts and the Romans, the increase in mining, Christian monuments, the creation of villages, the uses of woodland, common ground and enclosed areas, the introduction of turnpike roads and the industrial monuments of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is more of a chronological survey than an in-depth study of the Peak District although the narrative is informative if rather impersonal.

Archives and Excavations aims to stimulate a new approach to the history of excavation by drawing attention to a vast and important area of research that has been neglected for almost a century.

A truly multi-disciplinary book allowing the reader to gain insights into an exceptionally diverse set of topics such as hunting, burial, sword-production and rock art, from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages.

Jordan is part both of the Fertile Crescent and the Holy Land. Its archaeological remains extend in time from prehistory to the British Empire. The country is, of course, renowned for the magnificent ruins at Petra - a World Heritage Site - and the superb remains of the Roman city of Jerash. But beyond these high profile places is a rich and varied cultural heritage. Sites are everywhere in this great outdoor museum: one tally has calculated over 25,000 sites visible above ground alone, making Jordan one of the great treasure houses of the world. Even at ground level these sites are striking and memorable, but the best view, as is so often the case, is seen from the air. The book contains over 200 high quality colour photographs, taken from the air, illustrating the breathtaking range of sites. Chapters deal with periods through history from prehistoric times through the Nabateans, Greeks and Romans, the early Islamic period, the Crusaders and Saracens, to the Ottoman and British Empires. The photographs are accompanied by descriptions of the sites pictured.

For over 500 years, from the middle Iron Age to the early Roman period, the 1st gravel terrace of the river Thames at Thornhill Farm appears to have been lived in and worked as a cattle ranch. Extensive excavations by Oxford Archaeology between 1986 and 1989 revealed large parts of the settlement, including paddocks, stock enclosures and droveways, all designed to control and manage the herds of animals. Evidence for domestic houses points to small family groups living at the site and tending to the livestock. The surrounding gravel terraces and floodplain would have formed open pastureland, upon which lay a number of other settlements, some of which were also operating specialist pastoral economies. The settlement at Thornhill Farm was constantly being developed and remodelled until the early 2nd century AD, when it was replaced by a series of trackways and some of the earliest hay meadows in Britain. What happened to the inhabitants of Thornhill Farm at this time is unknown, but it seems likely that the whole settlement was subsumed into a larger agricultural estate based at neighbouring Claydon Pike. The excavations at Thornhill Farm formed part of a co-ordinated archaeological response to the threat posed by gravel extraction during the creation of the Cotswold Water Park. This book presents the results of this phase of work, and discusses the significance of the site within the local and regional landscape.

The subject matter of archaeology is the engagement of human beings, now and in the past, with both the natural world and the material world they have created. All aspects of human activity are potentially relevant to archaeological research, and, conversely, the ways in which others, especially artists and anthropologists, have investigated the world are of interest to archaeologists. Archaeological artefacts and sites are also used by groups and nations to establish identity, and for financial gain, both through tourism and trade in antiquities. Colin Renfrew has actively engaged with art, with politics and with the antiquities trade, and has presented his ideas to broad audiences through accessible books and television programmes, as well as championing the cause of archaeology in many public roles. The papers in this volume, which have been written by colleagues and former students on the occasion of his retirement, relate to all of these subject areas, and together give some idea of the complexity of the issues raised by critical engagements with the material world, both past and present.

The discovery of the well preserved remains of a Bronze Age boat in Dover in 1992 was one of the most important post-war finds in Britain. The boat was of a stitched oak plank structure, and has been dated to 1550 BC. To mark the tenth anniversary of the boat's discovery, a conference was held in Dover in 2002. This publication brings to a wider audience sixteen of the papers presented there, allowing all those interested in this fascinating relic to share in the findings of experts from all over Europe. Subjects include: evidence of the boat's marine environment; the reconstruction of the boat; boats as Bronze Age artefacts; British prehistoric shipbuilding; the use of model ships in archaeological research; north-west European boats before AD 400; the sewn-plank boats of the Humber; the prehistoric harbours of Kent; the environmental context of the Dover boat; sea-faring voyages and rock art ships; social and religious perceptions of the ship in Bronze Age northern Europe; the heritage management of boats; the social role of the ship and the sea in Bronze Age Norway. Contributors: Peter Clark, Christopher Green, Peter Marsden, John Coates, Francis Pryor, Owain Roberts, Seán McGrail, Edwin Gifford and Joyce Gifford, Béat Arnold, Robert Van de Noort, Keith Parfitt, Mike Bailie, Kristian Kristiansen, Flemming Kaul, Thijs Maarlveld, Frode Kvalo .

This volume presents the results of work from five separate developer-funded excavations between 1992-8. Bronze Age field ditches were sealed by domestic buildings relating to the expansion of early Roman London after AD 70, contemporary with the timber amphitheatre located nearby beneath the Guildhall. The masonry fort was built in the early 2nd century AD and there was no evidence of a long-suspected predecessor. The fort's buildings seem to have gone out of use around the end of the 2nd century AD and its southern defensive ditch was backfilled. Extensive reoccupation came with the establishment of burgage plots after AD 1050. Twelfth-century development included buildings with cellars and evidence of bone- and metalworking. Birds of prey and high-quality pottery and glass imply the presence of a high-status person or property in the 13th century, but little survies from after this time.

In 1995 a second phase of excavations was undertaken by Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) at Reading Business Park in advance of development. This volume reports on the occupation evidence they found dating to the Neolithic, Bronze Age and medieval periods. The Neolithic features included an unusual segmented ring ditch, and a number of pits and postholes, with associated flint assemblages dating to the late Neolithic. A field system, composed of rectangular boundary ditches, was laid out in the area prior to the establishment of the late Bronze Age settlement. The evidence for the late Bronze Age settlement included five roundhouses, and a number of post-built structures. The excavators also found numerous deposits of burnt flint that were made in one area in the later Bronze Age, and over time these grew into a substantial and unusually large elongated burnt mound. The authors discuss the origin of these deposits, together with the management of the overall landscape in the later Bronze Age.

Wimbotsham is one of more than 400 moated sites in Norfolk and was investigated ahead of a sewer being laid by the local water company. This report on the excavation and associated archival research reveals Wimbotsham as a moated rectory, most probably built by the de Warenne family at the end of the 12th century. The excavation found two earth building platforms, a series of internal drainage channels, remains of a 13th- or 14th-century timber-framed building and an assemblage of finds that included domestic and some high-status objects. The site went into decline in the 15th and 16th centuries and was abandoned by 1626.

This is a corpus of the best-preserved earthworks in Norfolk grassland. Each site plan is accompanied by descriptive text and a summary of the documentary evidence. The settlement earthworks are almost entirely medieval and include deserted villages and the more numerous shrunken settlements as well as manorial sites where more than a single moated platform survives. Monastic sites and castles where, in some instances, additional earthworks have been found, form two important sections. Water features include some fishponds together with plans of Norfolk's few water meadows. Ridge and furrow, another rarity in the county, also appears and the survey ends with a selection of parkland earthworks.

A thorough and detailed report on the excavation of a low-status Roman site in advance of gravel extraction in Boreham, 8 km to the north-east of Chelmsford. Whilst briefly discussing prehistoric evidence at the site relating to Neolithic deposits, early to middle Bronze Age ring-ditches, a late Bronze Age settlement and an early Iron Age building, the main focus is on the 2nd- to 4th-century Roman villa and associated settlements and deposits. The Roman aisled villa and house was found to be set within a ditched compound with a network of fields and enclosures and also encompassing a bath-house and ancillary buildings including a granary and workshop or store. The methodology and results of the excavation are rpesented in detail and analysis of finds, zoological and botanical remains attest to the economy and means of production in the site as well as its wider significance for the area. Summaries in English, French and German.

A policy document from the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers. Its objcetives are: to provide a quick reference on standards applicable to fieldwork and subsequent activities; to provide a statement of philosophy on fieldwork, standards and research frameworks; to implement PPG guidelines; to improve standards, and to provide a benchmark for monitoring and assessing projects. The document is also available as a PDF on line at www. eaareports.org.uk, look under ALGAO.

The essence of virtual reality lies with computer-based three-dimensional environments. Often termed 'worlds', these conceptual models can be navigated, interacted with and updated in real-time. This Guide to Good Practice is intended for individuals and organisations who are interested in potential ways to use virtual reality within the arts and humanities. It concentrates on the most widely used form of virtual reality today, desk-top virtual reality, which may be distributed and viewed on-line via the World Wide Web. In these systems virtual reality worlds run on users' desk-top computers, are displayed on a standard monitor, and navigated using a mouse or 3-D space ball and keyboard. This Guide introduces virtual reality by considering its history, philosophy and theory, and discusses good practice in planning virtual reality projects. It presents the data management and documentation procedures required to enable models to be maintained, and enjoyed by the audiences for which they are intended. It also explores strategies for archiving and considers how to avoid the loss of virtual reality models as technology changes. A virtual library of case studies illustrates some applications of virtual reality in Archaeology, Architecture, Dance, Design, Fine Art, Heritage, History, Museum Studies and Theatre. Examples of worlds which allow users to interact with each other are also presented.

This richly illustrated volume presents important new evidence for early modern industry and settlement at two sites in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Taken together, the Richmond and Mortlake sites provide valuable evidence of the great increase in development occurring in small towns on the outskirts of London from the mid 17th century. Excavation at 29-34 George St, Richmond also drew on a historical study of documentary evidence, showing the town's development from the 15th century onwards. Looking at several sites in Mortlake uncovered significant evidence pertaining to the post-medieval industry that arose here, and even included excavation of a First World War shell-filling factory.