Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (74 page)

A phase of the British early Bronze Age spanning the period 1650–1400 bc which was defined by Colin Burgess in the late 1970s. Coming immediately after the
BEAKER
Tradition and the rich early
WESSEX CULTURE
graves of the preceding
OVERTON PERIOD
, Bedd Branwen times saw the almost universal adoption of cremation as the main mode of burial, the tendency to use existing round barrows as the focus for flat cremation cemeteries (although some barrows continued to be built), the emergence of
DEVEREL–RIMBURY
ceramics alongside existing collared urns, and the development of metallurgy through the
ARRETON DOWN
and
ACTON PARK
industrial phases.

 
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A straight slot dug in the ground into which a large timber is laid so that wall posts can be recessed into it and thus held securely in place.

 
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English monk and historian born
c.
ad 673, who spent most of his life in the monastery at Jarrow, Northumbria, teaching Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Most of his works were biblical, but his principal composition,
The ecclesiastical history of the English
, completed in 731, is the most valuable source for the study of the 7th century, and is arguably the greatest historical writing of the early Middle Ages in Europe. Died
c.
ad 735.

 
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Undisturbed natural substrate below any archaeological deposits, accumulative overburden such as alluvium or colluvium, or established soil profile. The bedrock is not necessarily solid rock: gravels, sands, glacial tills, and many other kinds of relatively soft materials are, in archaeological terms, bedrock.

 
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Type of
ROTARY QUERN
common in Roman times which had an extremely thick dome-shaped upper stone with a slightly flared base; some authorities believe such querns have a phallic symbolism.

 
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See
THOLOS
.

 
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