Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (557 page)

The post-glacial vegetational and climatic succession was subdivided into a series of zones, first by von Post in Sweden, and in 1940 by Harry Godwin for the British Isles. These zones are widely accepted and connected to biostratigraphic/climatic phases as a general phasing for the late
DEVENSIAN
and
FLANDRIAN
. As such they have come to be applied more widely than was originally intended. The nine main zones proposed by Godwin and linked to biostratigraphic zones are:

Ia Oldest Dryas (13000–10500 bc) Tundra;
Ib Bølling (10500–10000 bc) park tundra;
Ic Older Dryas (10000–9800 bc) tundra;
II Allerød (9800–8800 bc) tundra, park tundra and birch forest;
III Younger Dryas (8800–8300 bc) tundra;
IV Pre-Boreal (8300–7700 bc) birch forest;
V and
VI Boreal (7700–5500 bc) pine/birch forest with increasing mixed forest;
VII Atlantic (5500–3000 bc) mixed oak forest;
VIII Sub-Boreal (3000–500 bc) mixed oak forest;
IX Sub-Atlantic (500 bc+) spread of grasses and pine/beech woodland

. In more recent studies, pollen analysts have tended to subdivide particular sequences into
pollen assemblage zones
which are based on fluctuations seen in that specific sequence and therefore take better account of local variations in vegetation history.

 
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A form of marriage in which a woman may have two or more husbands at the same time.

 
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Greek historian born around 200 bc who spent much of his life in Rome, and whose principal work, the
Histories
, documents the rise of Rome from the first Punic War to the mid 2nd century. Died
c.
118 bc.

 
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Strictly, decoration using more than two colours, but in practice often applied to schemes involving two or more colours. Often applied to decorative schemes on ceramic materials.

 
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General term used to refer to a wide range of highly colourful jewellery and ornaments found in cemeteries of the 5th to the 7th centuries
ad
in southeastern England and in continental FRANKISH burials.

 
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A form of marriage in which a person may have two or more spouses simultaneously.

 
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