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OS Card
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Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments.
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SMR Card
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Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record.
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TBAS
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Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record.
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Documentary Evidence
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Documentary evidence is another name for written records. The first written records in Britain date back to the Roman period. Documentary evidence can take many different forms, including maps, charters, letters and written accounts.
When archaeologists are researching a site, they often start by looking at documentary evidence to see if there are clues that will help them understand what they might find. Documentary evidence can help archaeologists understand sites that are discovered during an excavation, field survey or aerial survey.
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Earthwork
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Earthworks can take the form of banks, ditches and mounds. They are usually created for a specific purpose. A bank, for example, might be the remains of a boundary between two or more fields. Some earthworks may be all that remains of a collapsed building, for example, the grassed-over remains of building foundations.
In the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky than during the other seasons, earthworks have larger shadows. From the air, archaeologists are able to see the patterns of the earthworks more easily. Earthworks can sometimes be confusing when viewed at ground level, but from above, the general plan is much clearer.
Archaeologists often carry out an aerial survey or an earthwork survey to help them understand the lumps and bumps they can see on the ground.
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Aerial Photograph
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Aerial photographs are taken during an aerial survey, which involves looking at the ground from above. It is usually easier to see cropmarks and earthworks when they are viewed from above. Aerial photographs help archaeologists to record what they see and to identify new sites. There are two kinds of aerial photographs; oblique and vertical.
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Medieval
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1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)
The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.
The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.
The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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HOUSE *
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A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known.
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VILLAGE *
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A collection of dwelling-houses and other buildings, usually larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a simpler organisation and administration than the latter.
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MANOR FARM *
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A farm on the estate of a manor.
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SITE *
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Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible.
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SETTLEMENT *
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A small concentration of dwellings.
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HAMLET *
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Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function.
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BOUNDARY BANK *
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An earthen bank that indicates the limit of an area or a piece of land.
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MANOR HOUSE *
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The principal house of a manor or village.
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SHRUNKEN VILLAGE *
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A settlement where previous house sites are now unoccupied, but often visible as earthworks, crop or soil marks.
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POND *
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A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known.
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ROAD *
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A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles.
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PASTURE *
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A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock.
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DESERTED SETTLEMENT *
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An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs.
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WELL *
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A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water.
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BUILDING PLATFORM *
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A site where a building once stood as identified by a level area of ground, often compacted or made from man-made materials. Use only where specific function is unknown, otherwise use more specific term.
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BRIDGE *
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A structure of wood, stone, iron, brick or concrete, etc, with one or more intervals under it to span a river or other space. Use specific type where known.
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SPOIL HEAP *
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A conical or flat-topped tip of waste discarded from a mine or similar site.
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CHAPEL *
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A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known.
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CROFT *
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An enclosed piece of land adjoining a house.
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HOUSE PLATFORM *
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An area of ground on which a house is built. A platform is often the sole surviving evidence for a house.
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DRAINAGE DITCH *
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A long, narrow ditch designed to carry water away from a waterlogged area.
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STREAM *
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A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source.
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FOOTPATH *
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A path for pedestrians only.
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TARGET *
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Any structure or object, used for the purpose of practice shooting by aerial, seaborne or land mounted weapons.
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EARTHWORK *
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A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification.
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HOLLOW WAY *
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A way, path or road through a cutting.
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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)
