Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (68 page)

A general term for a group of barrows, typically anything between 5 and 300, clustered together and representing the gradual build-up of burials and their associated monuments and structures over a period of time. Anglo-Saxon cemeteries that comprise numerous small barrows are generally referred to as barrow fields. See also
ROUND BARROW CEMETERIES
.

 
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Term applied to flat rectangular ingots of silver of Roman date.

 
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See
TAUNTON PHASE
.

 
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A
NURAGHE
site towards the southern end of the island, well inland, which was excavated by Giovanni Lilliu in the 1940s. It began as a single fortified tower, 17m high and with three corbelled chambers one above the other, in the early 2nd millennium
bc
. Four round towers around the base of the central tower, and a perimeter wall with smaller towers enclosing a village were built in the 8th century
bc
. In the 6th century
bc
the site was sacked by the
CARTHAGINIANS
.
[Rep.: L. Giovanni , 1988,
Su nuraxi ali Barumini
. Sassari: C. Delfino]

 
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Type of leaf-shaped socketed spearhead of the European middle Bronze Age which has two small holes or loops at the base of the blade, one either side of the socket. It is assumed that these were to assist in securing the metal spearhead to the wooden shaft, but they might also have been used to tie streamers of some kind to the top of the spear.

 
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A Roman public hall providing the administrative and commercial centre of a Roman town. Usually situated along one side of the
FORUM
and containing one or more tribunals for magistrates, the standard form of the basilica was a long rectangular building with two rows of pillars dividing it into a central nave and two outer aisles. Behind the basilica there was usually a range of rooms containing the
CURIA
, a shrine for the
TUTELA
, and offices. The aisled-hall plan characteristic of most basilicas was adopted for use by numerous religious cults, including Christianity, that needed space for communal worship.

 
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