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WMEF
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Warwickshire Museum Enquiry Form. These are forms that are filled in when a person brings an object to Warwickshire Museum to be identified. Amongst the information recorded on the form are details such as a description of the object, where and when it was found, and in some cases a sketch or photographs of it. Copies of the form can be viewed at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record.
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Geophysical Survey
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The measuring and recording of electrical resistivity or magnetism in order to determine the existence and outline of buried features such as walls and ditches. Geophysical techniques include resistivity survey, magnetometer survey and ground penetrating radar.
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Resistivity Survey
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A resistivity survey measures the electrical resistance of the soil and any buried features within it. Where there are buried pits and ditches, there is less resistance to the flow of electricity. Where there are archaeological remains made from stone, for example a wall, the resistance is greater. These differences in resistance are measured and recorded by archaeologists using a resistivity meter. The measurements can then be used to plot features that exist below the ground. See also geophysical survey.
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excavation
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Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.
Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench. more ->
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Bronze Age
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About 2500 BC to 700 BC
The Bronze Age comes after the Neolithic period and before the Iron Age.
The day to day life of people in the Bronze Age probably changed little from how their ancestors had lived during the Neolithic period. They still lived in farmsteads, growing crops and rearing animals.
During the Bronze Age people discovered how to use bronze, an alloy of tin and copper (hence the name that has given to this era). They used it to make their tools and other objects, although they continued to use flint and a range of organic materials as well. A range of bronze axes, palstaves and spears has been found in Warwickshire. more ->
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Roman
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About 43 AD to 409 AD (the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD)
The Roman period comes after the Iron Age and before the Saxon period.
The Roman period in Britain began in 43 AD when a Roman commander called Aulus Plautius invaded the south coast, near Kent. There were a series of skirmishes with the native Britons, who were defeated. In the months that followed, more Roman troops arrived and slowly moved westwards and northwards. more ->
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MOSAIC *
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A picture or pattern produced by cementing together small pieces of stone or glass of various colours. May be in the form of a floor.
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SITE *
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Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible.
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BORDER *
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A strip of ground forming a fringe to a garden. Use more specific type where known.
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SETTLEMENT *
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A small concentration of dwellings.
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SCHOOL *
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An establishment in which people, usually children, are taught.
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FLOOR *
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A layer of stone, brick or boards, etc, on which people tread. Use broader site type where known.
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URN *
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A garden ornament, usually of stone or metal, designed in the the form of a vase used to receive the ashes of the dead.
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FLUE *
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A passageway, duct or pipe use for the conveyance of heat, gasses, smoke or air.
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BATH HOUSE *
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A building equipped with facilities for bathing, and occasionally public baths.
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VILLA *
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A term for a type of house, with varying definitions according to period. Roman villas were high-status and usually associated with a rural estate, whereas Georgian and later period villas were often semi-detached, town houses.
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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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AISLED HOUSE *
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Use where the intervening arcade is closed but timber-framed.
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BATHS *
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A building, usually open to the public, containing a number of areas for bathing. In the case of such a complex containing baths for swimming, also index with INDOOR or OUTDOOR SWIMMING POOL.
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SPRING *
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A point where water issues naturally from the rock or soil onto the ground or into a body of surface water.
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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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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)