Vocabulary

Terms used in this database are defined quite broad. For instance, we refrained from defining settlements in more detail than we did because it is often not possible to determine the 'function' of a settlement. How to identify an estate on the basis of archaeological evidence alone? The types mentioned are still open to debate because at times we implicitly included information which is not exclusively archaeological: how do we archaeologically know that a church is a bishop's seat?  See comments section 'Strengths and Weaknesses' and 'Manuals'.

We also refrained from defining 'obvious' elements such as 'posthole', 'ditch', 'sunken hut' that belong to the regular language of early medieval archaeology. Of course, this can at times lead to uncertainties.

Site: a location where remains dating to the period 450-725 have been found. Sites have been given a 'type' indication (cemetery, settlement, hoard, river find, stray find, other). At one location different types of site can be present, for instance a cemetery and a settlement.

Cemetery: any location where one or more persons and or animals have been buried for whatever reason.

Settlement: any location where activities were performed by living people, not being a cemetery (habitation sites, churches, production sites, etc.)

Hoard: any location where a concentration of objects was buried and found, not being a cemetery or settlement.

River find: any location where a concentration of finds in a river was deposited and found.

Stray find: any location where an object was found not being a cemetery, settlement, hoard or river find.

Other: any location that cannot easily be assigned to one of the types of site mentioned above.

Context: an archaeologically relevant element of a site, for instance a grave, a sunken hut, a posthole, a ditch, a wall etc.

Ensemble: a coherent set of objects in a context: beads, brooches, buckles and mounts, food, jewelry, production, skeleton, utensils, vessels, weapons and armor, other. The objects assigned to an ensemble are listed in the manual.

Find: any object that is found in a context and is part of an ensemble.

Component: is an element of a find, usually components identified via scientific research.