Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (503 page)

Late Woodland Stage Iroquoian farmer-hunter communities living in and around New York State in northwestern North America in the period ad 1000–1300. Settlements comprise small villages of up to ten square or rectangular houses. By ad 1200 earthworks and palisades protect some settlements as warfare becomes more common among Iroquoian groups. Maize, beans, and squash were cultivated. Burials were generally made in cemeteries and under mounds, the deceased being interred fully clothed with few if any grave goods. Towards the end of the period, however, skeletons riddled with arrowheads are present and human bones are also found on village middens.

 
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ox
(pl.
oxen
)
[Sp].

Technically, a castrated male of the cattle species (Bos taurus), but the name is more widely applied to any large, usually horned, bovine animal used for draught.

 
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Medieval market town and bridging point of the rivers Thames and Cherwell in the upper Thames Valley east of the Cotswold Hills. The urban origins of the town lie in the 8th century
ad
. Edward the Elder fortified the settlement in the 10th century
ad
, and may have been responsible for laying out much of the street pattern. Through the 10th and 11th centuries it was a prosperous market centre, despite being sacked by the Danes in 1009 ad. This prosperity continued after the Norman conquest, Robert d'Oilly building a
MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLE
there in 1071. By the end of the 12th century the university was beginning to be felt as a new presence. However, as the university expanded through the 13th and 14th centuries the town went into decline, with the end of large-scale river-borne trade and a string of civil disorders and plagues playing a role too. After the Restoration the city regained its former status and began a new phase of post-medieval expansion.
[Sum.: T. Hassall , 1986, The archaeology of Oxford City. In G. Briggs
et al
. (eds.),
The archaeology of the Oxford region
. Oxford: Oxford University Department of External Studies, 115–34]

 
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One of the three largest archaeological contractors in the UK, undertaking rescue projects and research programmes in Britain and other European countries. Founded in 1973, the unit carries out a wide range of work from small-scale planning advice and field evaluations through to strategic surveys, major excavations, environmental impact assessments, and educational displays. In 2000 there was a core staff of 150 based at its headquarters in Oxford.

 
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Pottery made mostly in the vicinity of Oxford in a variety of fabrics. Vessels include distinctive types of mortaria,
PARCHMENT WARE
, and red colour-coated ware in the Samian tradition. This centrally placed industry became one of the largest and most important in Britain during the 4th century
ad
.

 
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Type of ingot either of copper or tin circulating in the Mediterranean in the early Bronze Age. It was shaped like a stretched ox-hide: roughly rectangular with a projection at each corner. The copper examples weigh about 27kg each and probably come from mines in Cyprus. More than 200 of them were found together with a wealth of other traded objects in a shipwreck dating to the 14th century
bc
near Ka
off the south coast of Turkey.