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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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Post Medieval
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About 1540 AD to 1750 AD (the 16th century AD to the 18th century AD)
The Post Medieval period comes after the medieval period and before the Imperial period.
This period covers the second half of the reign of the Tudors (1485 – 1603), the reign of the Stuarts (1603 – 1702) and the beginning of the reign of the Hannoverians (1714 – 1836).
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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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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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RIDGE AND FURROW *
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A series of long, raised ridges separated by ditches used to prepare the ground for arable cultivation. This was a technique, characteristic of the medieval period.
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BOUNDARY *
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The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known.
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CHURCH *
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A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known.
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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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FIELD *
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An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock.
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DITCH *
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A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year.
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FIELD BOUNDARY *
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The limit line of a field.
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CROFT *
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An enclosed piece of land adjoining a house.
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HEDGE *
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Usually a row of bushes or small trees planted closely together to form a boundary between pieces of land or at the sides of a road.
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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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MOUND *
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A natural or artificial elevation of earth or stones, such as the earth heaped upon a grave. Use more specific type where known.
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FARM *
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A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known.
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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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TOWN *
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An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government.
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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)
