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WMA
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West Midlands Archaeology. This publication contains a short description for each of the sites where archaeological work has taken place in the previous year. It covers Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. Some of these descriptions include photographs, plans and drawings of the sites and/or the finds that have been discovered. The publication is produced by the Council For British Archaeology (CBA) West Midlands and is published annually. Copies are held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record.
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Field Walking Survey
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Archaeologists walk over an area, usually ploughed fields, and look for objects on the surface. This is called field walking. Archaeologists record the point on the ground where they find the objects. These points are then plotted on a map. If the map shows that a large number of objects were found in the same place, it can be evidence that an archaeological site exists there. For example, if a large number of fragments of roof tile and/or brick or stone are found in one place, it could mean that there used to be some sort of building there. See also field survey.
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Prehistoric
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About 500,000 BC to 42 AD
The Prehistoric period covers all the periods from the Palaeolithic to the end of the Iron Age.
This is a time when people did not write anything down so there is no documentary evidence for archaeologists to look at. Instead, the archaeologists look at the material culture belonging to the people and the places where they lived for clues about their way of life.
The Prehistoric period is divided into the Early Prehistoric and Later Prehistoric.
The Early Prehistoric period covers the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods.
The Later Prehistoric period covers Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age times.
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Iron Age
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About 800 BC to 43 AD
The Iron Age comes after the Bronze Age and before the Roman period. It is a time when people developed the skills and knowledge to work and use iron, hence the name ‘Iron Age’ which is given to this period. Iron is a much tougher and more durable metal than bronze but it also requires more skill to make objects from it. People continued to use bronze during this period.
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BARN *
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A building for the storage and processing of grain crops and for housing straw, farm equipment and occasionally livestock and their fodder. Use more specific type where known.
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FLINT SCATTER *
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A spatially discrete, though sometimes extensive, scatter of flint artefacts recovered from the surface, eg. by fieldwalking, rather than from a particular archaeological context.
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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)
