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EMBANKED PIT ALIGNMENT * |
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A pit alignment accompanied by a linear bank (or banks) running parallel and adjacent to the line(s) of pits. |
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PIT DEFINED ENCLOSURE * |
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An enclosure where the boundary consists of a line of discrete pits, as opposed to a continuous ditch. Use with a term that describes the shape of the monument. |
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PITCH MAKING HEARTH * |
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A hearth constructed specifically for the manufacture of pitch. |
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ALL WEATHER PITCH * |
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A sports pitch usually with a synthetic surface (ie. not grass). |
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ANIMAL BURIAL PIT * |
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A place where dead animals are buried. |
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CLAY PUDDLING PIT * |
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A pit used for the containment of clay whilst it is mixed to the right consistency for brickmaking. |
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FULLERS EARTH PIT * |
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A pit for the extraction of fullers earth (a hydrous silicate of alumina), which was used for cleansing, and finishing, cloth and wool. |
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GRAIN STORAGE PIT * |
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A pit where grain is stored. |
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BELL CASTING PIT * |
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A pit, sometimes found close to a church or cathedral, where bells were cast in medieval times. |
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LIME SLAKING PIT * |
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A pit where calcium oxide (Quicklime) has been hydrated to produce calcium hydroxide, known as slaked lime. |
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PITCHBACK WHEEL * |
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A type of waterwheel where the incoming supply of water leaves a launder near the top of the wheel, and drops onto the paddles or buckets of the wheel which rotates in the reverse direction to that of the incoming flow. |
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PROSPECTING PIT * |
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A pit dug in the prospect of finding valuable minerals, coal, metal ores, etc, beneath the ground surface. |
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BRICKEARTH PIT * |
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A pit used for the excavation of clay suitable for making bricks. |
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DRAWBRIDGE PIT * |
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A purpose built pit, usually below a gatehouse or barbican, into which the counterweight of a drawbridge could be lowered, thus enabling the bridge to be raised. |
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EXTRACTIVE PIT * |
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Surface workings including shallow shafts, lode workings, open-pit methods and quarrying including some mines of stone, clays, compounds, etc. See also MINERAL EXTRACTION SITE. |
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FOOTBALL PITCH * |
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A prepared area of grass on which the game of football is played. |
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CREMATION PIT * |
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A pit over which a corpse has been cremated on a pyre into which the remains and debris, and sometime grave goods, collapse and are buried. Generally confined to the Roman period. |
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CRICKET PITCH * |
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An area of grass, marked out for use in the game of cricket. |
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IRONSTONE PIT * |
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A large pit formed by, and for, the extraction of iron ore. |
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PIT ALIGNMENT * |
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A single line, or pair of roughly parallel lines, of pits set at intervals along a common axis or series of axes. The pits are not thought to have held posts. |
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PITHEAD BATHS * |
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A building containing the colliery showers. Also often containing first aid and mine rescue facilities. |
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PREACHING PIT * |
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A large, circular hollow, often with a platform and seating built into the sides, used for preaching. |
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BLUNGING PIT * |
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Pit for mixing raw materials with water in the preparation of a clay body. |
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HOCKEY PITCH * |
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A playing area for the game of hockey. May be a grass or artificial surface. |
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HORNCORE PIT * |
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A pit lined with the bony cores of animal horns. Thought to date from the 17th/18th centuries and believed to have been used in the tanning industry although some may have been used for casting cannon. |
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SETTLING PIT * |
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Pit for the depostion of ore sediment from waste water collected from ore washing. |
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STEEPING PIT * |
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Pit for soaking animal hides as part of the tanning process. |
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CHARNEL PIT * |
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A pit used for the re-burial of disarticulated human remains from many individuals, occasionally displaying sorting of remains, eg. grouping of skulls or long bones. Distinct from mass burials which contain articulated skeletal remains. |
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COOKING PIT * |
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A pit which shows evidence for having been used for cooking. Often contains charcoal, burnt bone fragments etc. |
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LATRINE PIT * |
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A hole dug in the ground to act as a, usually temporary, communal toilet facility. |
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MINERAL PIT * |
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A pit in the ground from where minerals are dug. |
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PIT CLUSTER * |
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A spatially discrete group of pits usually containing artefactual material with little or no accompanying evidence for structural features. |
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RUBBISH PIT * |
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A pit where domestic waste material is deposited. |
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RUGBY PITCH * |
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A prepared area of grass on which the game of rugby is played. |
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SOAKING PIT * |
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A furnace for holding hot steel ingots to equalize their temperature before they are hot-rolled in a steel-making or rolling mill complex. |
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STORAGE PIT * |
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A pit dug in the ground used to store meat, grain and other foodstuffs. A common feature of Iron Age farms. |
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TANNING PIT * |
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A pit or tank containing chemicals for the preserving of animal hide. |
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WASHING PIT * |
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A pit or tank where the chemicals used in tanning are washed from the animal hides. |
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WEAPONS PIT * |
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Usually a small, two or three man trench, dug as an isolated fieldwork rather than as part of a defensive system. A WWI and WWII feature. |
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BADGER PIT * |
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A site used for the sport of badger baiting using fighting dogs. |
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BURIAL PIT * |
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A place where dead bodies are buried together. Often unconsecrated ground. |
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GRAVEL PIT * |
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A steep-sided pit formed by, and for, the extraction of gravel. |
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PIT CIRCLE * |
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An enclosure of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date, related to henges, defined by a circular arrangement of pits, probably none of which originally held posts. More than one circle, concentrically arranged, may be present. |
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PLAGUE PIT * |
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A deep pit used for the burial of plague victims. |
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RITUAL PIT * |
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A pit which appears to have been dug for, or which contains, objects apparently deposited for reasons other than storage, disposal or extraction. Index with principal object types. |
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BRINE PIT * |
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A pit dug for the extraction of brine. |
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CHALK PIT * |
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A place from which chalk is extracted. |
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OCHRE PIT * |
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A site where iron oxide and iron sulphates, used as brown pigments, are excavated. |
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RIFLE PIT * |
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A pit dug to protect a small group of infantry men. |
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STOKE PIT * |
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The position of a fire in a wood-fuelled furnace. All periods from the Iron Age to the 17th century. |
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SWING PIT * |
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This is a pit used in the glass industry for the production of cylinder glass. The only surviving examle in England is at the Hartley Wood Glasworks, Sunderland. It is a feature of 19th century and later glassworks |
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WHEEL PIT * |
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The rectangular pit in which the lower part of a waterwheel revolves. |
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BEAR PIT * |
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A pit where bears were housed for baiting and entertainment purposes. If not used for baiting use BEAR ENCLOSURE. |
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BELL PIT * |
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A bell-shaped pit used in early coal mining. Use with functional type if known, eg. COAL WORKINGS. |
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BULL PIT * |
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An enclosure used for baiting bulls. |
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CESS PIT * |
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A pit for the reception of night-soil and refuse. |
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CLAY PIT * |
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A place from which clay is extracted. |
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DUNG PIT * |
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A pit used for containing manure. |
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FIRE PIT * |
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A pit dug into the ground or a simple construction made of stone, brick or metal. Designed to contain a fire and prevent it from spreading, but can also be used to heat stone for breaking. |
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KELP PIT * |
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A stone-lined pit in which seaweed was burnt. The calcined ashes were used in the manufacture of soap and glass, amongst other things. |
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MARL PIT * |
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A pit from which marl, a mixture of clay and carbonate of lime, is excavated. Marl is used as a fertilizer. |
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PIT TRAP * |
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A pit used to trap game. Often originally covered and consealed, and sometimes with sharpened stakes in the base. |
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SAND PIT * |
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A pit from which sand is excavated. |
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SLAG PIT * |
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A pit containing the waste product form iron working. |
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Test Pit |
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A small, exploratory excavation that helps archaeologists to find out how deep below the ground surface the archaeological layers extend. They are also dug to discover whether the topsoil contains particular concentrations of artefacts. Test pits are dug before a large excavation to determine a site's depth and contents. |
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ASH PIT * |
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A pit containing burnt ashes. |
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LYE PIT * |
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A pit in which lye is used to clean hides/bones/etc. generally as part of the tanning process to remove excess fat, flesh, hair, etc. from the raw hide. The residue from these pits formed a crude soap which could be used for various cleaning purposes. |
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SAW PIT * |
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A place where tree trunks were sawn into planks by hand. |
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PIT * |
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A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. Use more specific type where known. |
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