Aerial photography: Taking photographs from aeroplanes which help us to understand the landscape and find where people have lived and farmed in the past.
Antiquarian: An old Victorian term for someone who studies old things; these were
the predecessors of archaeologists.
Artefact: A thing which is skilfully made. This term has been in use by
archaeologists since the 1890s.
Ashlar stonework: Smoothly finished stone used in buildings which have square edges and smooth fronts. Also see dressed stonework.
Castellated: A name for the distinctive up-and-down pattern along the tops of walls of many medieval castles. Also see crenulated.
Corinthian: A term for Ancient Greek decoration of the type originally used in Corinth in Greece. The style includes very decorative leafy designs at the top of columns. It was used again in Britain from the early 1800s.
Crenulated: A name for the distinctive up-and-down pattern along the tops of walls of many medieval castles. Also see castellated.
Cruck: Curved timber used to create the shape of walls and support the roofs of buildings in the medieval period.
Curvilinear: A curved line -
this term is often used for boundaries which are
not straight lines, but are not complete circles.
Doric: A term for Ancient Greek decoration of the type brought to Greece by the Dorian people. The style includes fluted columns (with vertical ridges). It was used again in Britain from the early 1800s.
Dressed stonework: Smoothly finished stone used in buildings which have square edges and smooth fronts. Also see ashlar stonework.
Excavation: A means of finding out about people in the past through digging
archaeological sites where artefacts and buried evidence of buildings.
Farmstead: A farm with its associated buildings.
Hogback: A Viking grave marker made from a single piece of stone shaped into an oblong with an arched top. Decorative carvings on hogbacks often resemble Viking houses.
Ionic: A term for Ancient Greek decoration of the type brought to Greece by the Dorian people. The style includes column tops decorated with scrolls. It was used again in Britain from the early 1800s.
Listed building: Buildings which are placed on a list of buildings of special
architectural or historical interest. These buildings are especially protected by law, and permissions for any
alterations to them need to be sought from the local government authority and approved before any work takes place.
The most up-to-date information available has been used to describe which buildings have listed status.
Mortarium: A type of Roman dish with a rough surface used for grinding food.
Mullion: A vertical stone divide in a window frame.
Norse: The Viking people who came from Norway.
Ordnance Survey Map: Maps originally made for military purposes. Through the 1800s the whole of Britain was mapped and Ordnance Survey continue to produce up-to-date maps.
Outcrop: A place where the solid stone of the earth is exposed at the surface.
Palaeoecology: The study of old plant life through analysis of soil, which often contains seeds and pollen.
Perpendicular Gothic: A style of architecture which uses long vertical shapes and pointed arches.
Portico: A triangle-topped porch at the front of a grand building. This style was originally used in Ancient Greek architecture and was used again in Britain from the early 1800s.
Quernstone: A stone used for grinding foods, either by rocking or rubbing one stone back and forth on another (saddle quern) or in a circular movement (rotary quern).
Registered Park or Garden: Parks and gardens which are placed on a list and specially protected by law.
Roadstead: A place outside a harbour where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea.
Scheduled Ancient Monument: nationally important sites and monuments are given
legal protection by being placed on a schedule. Consent for any proposals that may affect them needs to sought
and obtained from the secretary of state for Culture Media and Sport, as advised by English Heritage.
Slipware: A type of pottery common from the Tudor period onwards in Britain It is decorated with watered-down clay to create different coloured patterns which are fired onto the surface.
Tanged and barbed arrowhead: A type of prehistoric arrowhead, common in the late Neolithic and bronze age. It is triangular with a pointed end and two barbs facing backwards.
Tithe map: A type of map drawn up from the early 1800s to record who owns what land for taxation purposes.
