lanarkshire-1978/03_196

Transcription

GLOSSARY

Accessory Vessel. A type of small pottery vessel (e.g. Pl. 3A) commonly found with Cinerary Urns (q.v.).
Agger. The cambered mound of a Roman road.
Ala. A regiment of Roman auxiliary cavalry, with a numerical strength of 500 (quingenaria) or 1000 (milliaria)
(Latin).
Ansate. Used to describe a Roman inscribed panel which has wedge-shaped extensions on either side. Similar
panels with crescentic extensions are termed peltate.
As. A low denomination Roman bronze coin (Latin).
Ascensus. A ramp or flight of steps giving access to a wall-head (Latin).
Ballista. In Roman artillery, a catapult used to fire heavy bolts or stone balls (Latin).
Beaker. A type of pottery vessel used in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BC, varying in form, but usually
highly decorated and often found with inhumation burials (e.g. Pl. 1A-C).
Biconical Urn. A type of Cinerary Urn (q.v.), shaped like two truncated cones set base to base.
Bivallate. In fortification, having two lines of defence.
Bracer. In archery, a wrist-guard.
Capricorn. A mythical beast, half goat, half fish.
Castor ware. A type of Roman pottery decorated with a coloured slip and often with scenes in relief, made from the
2nd century onwards near Castor (Northants).
Centuria. A subdivision of a cohort (see Cohors), with a numerical strength of about eighty (Latin).
Cinerary Urn. A generic term for several types of large pottery vessels used as containers for cremated burials in
the 2nd millennium BC (e.g. Pl. 4B).
Clavicula. A curved internal or external extension of the rampart and/or ditch, denying direct entry to the gateway
of a Roman fort or temporary camp (Latin).
Cohors. A unit of Roman troops constituting (i) approximately the tenth part of a legion, or (ii) an auxiliary infantry
regiment 500 strong (quingenaria, hence quingenary) or 1000 strong (milliaria, hence milliary), sometimes with
a mounted contingent (equitata, hence equitate) (Latin).
Corbel. A block of stone or timber projecting from a wall to support a superincumbent weight.
Counterscarp, see Scarp.
Enlarged Food Vessel. A type of Cinerary Urn (q.v.) resembling a Food Vessel (q.v.) in form and decoration, but
much taller, having an average height of about 0.35 m (e.g. Pl. 4A).
Equitate (equitata), see Cohors.
Food Vessel. A type of thick-walled decorated pottery vessel, rarely exceeding 0.15 m in height, used in the 2nd
millennium BC (e.g. Pl. 2C).
Halberd. A small pointed bronze blade fixed transversely to its shaft.
Intervallum. The space between the rampart and the internal buildings of a Roman fort, usually occupied by the
intervallum road (Latin).
Lilia. A staggered series of defensive pits designed to impede access to a Roman fortification (Latin).
Lock-ring. A small penannular gold ornament, probably worn in the hair during the late 2nd and early 1st millennia
BC.
Lynchets. Cultivation scarps and terraces on hillsides, the positive element comprising the accumulation of plough
soil from uphill, the negative element being cut away by the plough and moved downhill.
Microlith. A very small implement of flint, chert, etc.
Milliary (milliaria) see Cohors.
Mortarium. A Roman mixing-bowl (Latin).
Motte. The mound of a Norman castle.
Multivallate. In fortification, having three or more lines of defence.

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