Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (104 page)

Building used to shelter cattle. Sometimes byres were separate buildings within a farmstead or agricultural settlement, in other cases the byre was integral with the farmhouse or dwelling. Examples of the latter from recent times include the longhouses of Ireland, Wales, and many other areas of maritime Europe.

 
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The Byzantine empire started with the first Christian emperor of the eastern Roman empire, Constantine , in ad 330. At that time Byzantium was inaugurated as the new capital of the eastern empire and renamed Constantinople. In ad 392 the emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman empire and on his death in ad 395 the empire was split between his two sons, never to be reunited. The eastern empire was ruled from Constantinople and developed as the Byzantine empire. The greatest Byzantine emperor was probably Justinian the Great who ruled from ad 527 to 565. He introduced a new legal system and expanded the boundaries of the empire as far west as Spain, Italy, and Africa. He encouraged the arts, a unique blend of late Roman and Greek influences, and commissioned the building of the great basilica of Haghia Sophia in Constantinople.
Following the death of the Prophet Mohammed in ad 632, Arab armies took Egypt, Syria, and Palestine from the Byzantines, and Constantinople was itself besieged from ad 674 to 678. It survived, but the empire was further reduced at this time by the loss of North Africa and Italy. It was brought to the brink of civil war by the Iconoclastic Crisis before enjoying another brief golden age under Basil II (ad 976–1025). But the empire's troubles increased as invaders made further incursions into Byzantine territory. In the 11th century the Seljuk Turks took large parts of Asia Minor and overran Anatolia, menacing Christian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. Reluctantly the emperor, Alexius I, sought help from the Christian west and the First Crusade was organized to help the Byzantines recapture the Holy Land from Muslim forces. The result was victory for the Crusaders, but they were not so lucky in the Second and Third Crusades. The Fourth Crusade, launched in 1202, was partly inspired by the Vatican's jealousy of Byzantium's trading power. It soon became an excuse to plunder Constantinople itself, the Crusaders ruling the city from 1204 through to 1261. The rise of the Ottoman empire during the 14th century finally put an end to the Byzantines, the fall of Constantinople itself being in April 1453.

 
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Seed pod from an evergreen tree (Theobroma cacao) native to the tropical lowlands of South and Central America from which chocolate is made. Cacao attained importance as a luxury commodity among Maya, Teotihuacán, and Aztec nobility.

 
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A collection of items similar to a hoard, but more likely to have been intended for recovery. See also
HOARD
.

 
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See
SOUTH CADBURY, SOMERSET, UK
.

 
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Government agency responsible for archaeology and related matters in Wales. Established in 1984 and based in Cardiff, its overall duties and functions are similar to those of
ENGLISH HERITAGE
.

 
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