Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (251 page)

Multi-period prehistoric settlements on the edge of the Fenlands in eastern England. Excavations by Francis Pryor and colleagues since 1971 have revealed a long sequence of occupation starting in the middle Neolithic and extending through into early Roman times. In the 4th millennium
bc
there was a small square Neolithic house, and a pit-grave all well spaced out across the landscape and representing the first major colonization of the area. During the 3rd millennium, however, the area started to fill up, with the establishment of a small field system and more extensive settlement. This process continued through the 2nd and 1st millennia
bc
, with the appearance soon after 1000 bc of a series of structures on a timber platform in a marshy area at what is now Flag Fen. A series of post alignments run across the wetland near the platform and during the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age acted to trap material moving about in the shallow water round the island, making a rich assemblage in archaeological terms. One of the activities happening within and around Flag Fen was the deposition into the water of metal objects, perhaps as some kind of offerings. Settlement in the area continued through the Iron Age and early Roman period, but from the 3rd century
ad
the water level rose, flooding the landscape and causing the people to move to drier ground.
[Sum.: F. Pryor , 1991,
Flag Fen
. London: Batsford and English Heritage]

 
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See
PETERBOROUGH WARE
.

 
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A shrine to contain the relics of a saint.

 
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A term invented in 1916 by James Breasted , first director of the Oriental Institute, Chicago. What he referred to was the roughly crescent-shaped area of land between Egypt, through the Levant, into southern Anatolia and on to Mesopotamia and the Zagros Mountains. Conditions here were favourable for the development of farming, and it is here that many of the earliest farming sites have indeed been found. The term is less heavily used today, however, because early farming sites have also been found outside the Crescent and in more marginal landscapes.

 
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A strictly hierarchical political and economic system in which land is granted in return for military or labour services.

 
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A Latin word for a common type of brooch or fastener similar in operation to a modern-day safety-pin, made of bronze or iron and consisting of a bow, pin, and catch plate. The earliest examples date to around 1300 bc, although their origins are controversial. There are two main kinds of
fibula
. The
single-piece
fibula
belongs mainly to southern Europe and probably started with the ‘violin bow’ in Mycenaean Greece. The
multi-part
fibula
is most common in northern Europe where the pin is almost always made separately from the bow and catch plate. The emergence of
fibulae
implies changes in the materials used in making clothes and the way such clothes were worn. See also
BROOCH
.

 
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