Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (196 page)
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Authors: Timothy Darvill
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Danebury, Hampshire, UK
[Si].
[Si].
A developed hillfort of the middle Iron Age on the chalk downlands of central southern England. Extensively excavated by Barry Cunliffe between 1969 and 1989, the site was first occupied in the 6th century
bc
, when the defences consisted of a single bank and ditch with two opposed entrances. Inside a road ran between the entrances and divided the occupation area into sectors: dwellings were set around the edges while the central area was used for storage. A series of square shrines occupied the highest spot in the middle of the fort. In the early 4th century a further line of ramparts was added outside the first, the southwest gateway was closed, and the east gate was strengthened. The site seems to have been abandoned during the 1st century
bc
, thereafter being used only as a temporary refuge. Investigations in the surrounding landscape have revealed that the hillfort was surrounded by other kinds of settlement and enclosure.
[Sum.: B. Cunliffe , 1983,
Danebury
. London: Batsford and English Heritage]
bc
, when the defences consisted of a single bank and ditch with two opposed entrances. Inside a road ran between the entrances and divided the occupation area into sectors: dwellings were set around the edges while the central area was used for storage. A series of square shrines occupied the highest spot in the middle of the fort. In the early 4th century a further line of ramparts was added outside the first, the southwest gateway was closed, and the east gate was strengthened. The site seems to have been abandoned during the 1st century
bc
, thereafter being used only as a temporary refuge. Investigations in the surrounding landscape have revealed that the hillfort was surrounded by other kinds of settlement and enclosure.
[Sum.: B. Cunliffe , 1983,
Danebury
. London: Batsford and English Heritage]
Danegeld
[Ge].
[Ge].
A tax on land levied in England between ad 991 and ad 1084 in order to buy off Danish Vikings.
Danelaw
[Ge].
[Ge].
Name given in the 10th century
ad
to the area which had been conquered and settled by the Danish Vikings and in which the kings of England allowed considerable autonomy to the Scandinavian settlers. In ad 878 the West Saxon king Alfred and the Danish leader Guthrum concluded a treaty which divided England into Saxon and Danish areas. In the Middle Ages the Danelaw in northern and eastern England had different administrative and fiscal arrangements from the Saxon areas to the south.
ad
to the area which had been conquered and settled by the Danish Vikings and in which the kings of England allowed considerable autonomy to the Scandinavian settlers. In ad 878 the West Saxon king Alfred and the Danish leader Guthrum concluded a treaty which divided England into Saxon and Danish areas. In the Middle Ages the Danelaw in northern and eastern England had different administrative and fiscal arrangements from the Saxon areas to the south.
Danger Cave, Utah, USA
[Si].
[Si].
A deeply stratified cave site in the Great Basin of midwest North America. The deposits contained evidence of intermittent occupation from about 9000 bc through to the second millennium
ad
. The excavator of the site, Jesse Jennings , argued that the sequence represented in the cave illustrated the development of a single culture living in a desert environment: the Desert Culture. In this he was greatly influenced by the anthropological work of Julian Steward , and indeed used aspects of the lifestyle of the Shoshoni Indians living in the Great Basin at the time of European contact to flesh out his reconstructions of earlier communities.The continuity inherent in Jennings' model is not now very widely accepted, although the site remains an important sequence for understanding the early occupation of the Great Basin.
[Rep.: J. D. Jennings , 1957,
Danger Cave
. Salt Lake City: University of Utah]
ad
. The excavator of the site, Jesse Jennings , argued that the sequence represented in the cave illustrated the development of a single culture living in a desert environment: the Desert Culture. In this he was greatly influenced by the anthropological work of Julian Steward , and indeed used aspects of the lifestyle of the Shoshoni Indians living in the Great Basin at the time of European contact to flesh out his reconstructions of earlier communities.The continuity inherent in Jennings' model is not now very widely accepted, although the site remains an important sequence for understanding the early occupation of the Great Basin.
[Rep.: J. D. Jennings , 1957,
Danger Cave
. Salt Lake City: University of Utah]
Daniel , Glyn Edmund
(1914–86)
[Bi].
(1914–86)
[Bi].
British prehistorian and academic, well known for popularizing archaeology on television and radio in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Barry, South Wales, he was educated first at University College, Cardiff, where he started reading geology before transferring to St John's College, Cambridge, where he read archaeology and anthropology. He put his archaeological training to good use during WW2, serving in the central photographic interpretation unit of the RAF. He returned to St John's in 1945 and stayed there until he retired in 1981. In 1974 he was elected Disney Professor. His academic specialisms focused on the Neolithic tombs of northwest Europe, his doctoral dissertation being published in 1950 as
The prehistoric chamber tombs of England and Wales
(Cambridge: CUP). He was also interested in the history of archaeology and archaeological thought and published several books on the subject, including
The idea of prehistory
(1962, London: C. A. Watts ). He appeared on television with Sir Mortimer Wheeler in
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?
, and helped popularize the subject further by editing more than 100 volumes in the Ancient Peoples and Places series, and between 1958 and 1985 he was the editor of the journal
Antiquity
. He was also interested in food and drink, a joy which he shared in his book
The hungry archaeologist in France
(1963, London: Faber and Faber), and in detective novels: he wrote two, both published by Penguin, one under the pseudonym Dilwyn Rees .
[Abio.: 1986,
Some small harvest
. London: Thames & Hudson]
The prehistoric chamber tombs of England and Wales
(Cambridge: CUP). He was also interested in the history of archaeology and archaeological thought and published several books on the subject, including
The idea of prehistory
(1962, London: C. A. Watts ). He appeared on television with Sir Mortimer Wheeler in
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?
, and helped popularize the subject further by editing more than 100 volumes in the Ancient Peoples and Places series, and between 1958 and 1985 he was the editor of the journal
Antiquity
. He was also interested in food and drink, a joy which he shared in his book
The hungry archaeologist in France
(1963, London: Faber and Faber), and in detective novels: he wrote two, both published by Penguin, one under the pseudonym Dilwyn Rees .
[Abio.: 1986,
Some small harvest
. London: Thames & Hudson]
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