Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (63 page)

BOOK: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
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balustrade
[Co].
A row of ornamented supports to a railing or low colonnade.
BANANA
[Ab].
The abbreviated form of the principle ‘Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything’ used as a slogan by radical environmentalists, and some archaeologists, attempting to curb property development.
Banas Culture
[CP].
The name given to a series of early Bronze Age agricultural communities living along the Banas River in Rajasthan, India, in the early 2nd millennium
bc
. Their material culture is characterized by black-on-red pottery which sometimes has white painted decoration, red-ware pottery, and copper and bronze tools and ornaments made from local ore sources. Their houses are made in stone and mud brick.
band
[Ge].
A simple, small, autonomous family-based group, the definition of which may be no more than the fact that its members feel closely enough related not to intermarry. There are no specialized or formalized institutions or groups which can be recognized as economic, political, or religious, for the band itself is the organization that undertakes all roles. Leadership and the division of labour is usually by age or sex differentiations. This simple form of human social organization flourished for most of prehistory. Bands consist of a family or a series of families, usually ranging from 20 to 50 people.
Bandkeramik Culture
[CP].
banjo enclosure
[MC].
A class of middle Iron Age settlement site found widely across southern Britain. It comprises a small round enclosure, usually less than 6ha in extent, bounded by a bank and outer ditch. The enclosure has a single main entrance that is approached by a long narrow trackway defined on either side by a low bank and ditch. The outer ends of earthworks defining the approach track are sometimes turned outwards to create a funnel entrance, the ground plan as a whole having the appearance of a banjo. Mainly constructed between 400 bc and 100 bc, banjo enclosures are essentially farmsteads or small hamlets with pretentious driveways, in some cases occupied by important and influential people to judge by the quality of the material culture represented.

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