Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (789 page)

Round stone-built structure, the interior of which is divided by short radial stone piers projecting from the wall but leaving the central area open. The piers presumably supported a wooden roof structure covered in turf or thatch. They are found mainly in northern Scotland and the outer isles especially the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland. Dated examples cluster in the early centuries of the 1st millennium
ad
and are thus broadly contemporary with
BROCHS
; a few examples may, however, be rather earlier, perhaps 3rd or 2nd century
bc
, and may thus pre-date the brocks in the neighbourhood.

 
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1
Pairs of parallel grooves or channels cut into a bearing surface such as a roadway or track as a result of the repeated passage of wheeled vehicles along a defined course. The distance between related pairs of wheel ruts provides a general indication of wheel spacing or axle width.
2
On ceramic vessels, the spiral marks, usually on the inside of a vessel, caused by the potter's fingers cutting into the clay walls as the pot revolves on the wheel.

 
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Term used to describe ceramic vessels made using a potter's wheel. A lump of raw clay is centred on the wheel as it rotates, after which the potter can draw out and shape the walls of the vessel as the wheel continues to rotate. Decoration and surface finishes can also be added while the vessel is on the wheel. Recognizing wheel-thrown pots is not always easy in archaeological samples, the presence of
WHEEL MARKS
being one of the most diagnostic.

 
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An abrasive stone, usually sandstone or siltstone of some kind, with one or more shaped faces that can be used for sharpening the blades of metal edged tools such as axes, swords, knives, awls, sickles, or chisels.

 
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In early
CELTIC
art a motif comprising three or four conjoined spirals either radiating from, or swirling about, a common centre, of which one element may be eccentric, being larger or more complex than the others. The four-part version may appear as a curvilinear rendering of the swastika motif. As with similar motifs in Celtic art, it may be used in a series or as part of a larger design.

 
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1
Simple musical instrument comprising a hollow tube, often of bone or wood, down which air can be blown; one or more holes in the side of the tube can be covered and uncovered with the fingers to alter the flow of air and thus produce a range of different sounds. When the holes are placed at proportioned intervals, a simple chromatic scale can be produced. Some of the earliest examples known include the hollowed femur of a cave bear with three holes, one in the posterior surface and two in the anterior, from an Upper Palaeolithic context in the Istállóskö Cave, Hungary. It provides a musical range A
ⁱⁱⁱ
, B
ⁱⁱⁱ
, B
ⁱⁱⁱ
, E
ⁱⁱⁱ
. The basic design involving a hollowed bone provided with holes is represented throughout later prehistory by many examples from findspots scattered widely across Europe.
2
A small tube in which there is a fixed constriction such that when blown a shrill sound is produced. The earliest examples, perhaps decoy whistles, are from Upper Palaeolithic occupation sites in France and parts of central Europe. All are made from reindeer phalanges pierced on one surface.

 
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