Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (183 page)

In studies of aerial photographs, cropmarks are patterns or variations in the colour or growth rates of cereals or other planted crops (including peas, grass, etc.) that are visible from the air, or on a photographic image taken from the air, and which are usually caused by the differential effects on plant ecology of below-ground disturbances or soil enrichment of some kind. Often these relate to archaeological features such as buried ditches and pits and thus provide a proxy indicator of what lies within or beneath the ground. In especially favourable conditions cropmarks can be seen from ground level.

 
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An elaborately decorated crook-like symbol of office used by bishops and archbishops in the Christian church. Usually considered to be the enshrined staff of the founder of a church or monastery.

 
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A weapon invented in China in the 3rd or 2nd century
bc
in which a normal
BOW
is mounted on a block of wood so that it can be used horizontally and single-handedly. The system was much improved in the 1st century
bc
with the development of a cocking piece and ratchet so that the string can be drawn with ease and released via a trigger. The crossbow proved ideal for the mounted archers of the nomadic steppe tribes as it could be discharged from the saddle and had a longer range and greater power than conventional bows.

 
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A plain bow-brooch, often without headplate, attributed to the 4th or early 5th century. Derived from late Roman forms, the cross bow brooch seems to be the ancestor of the more elaborately decorated brooches of the migration period.

 
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Pertaining to diverse cultures; systematic comparison between several societies.

 
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The use of commonly recurring objects to date cultures or deposits of unknown date by reference to the occurrence of the same kinds of object in securely dated contexts elsewhere. This method was used in the early 19th century especially to tie the artefact typologies of northern and central Europe into the historically dated civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean.

 
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