Oxford Reference Search Results

Orkney   Quick reference

A Dictionary of British History (3 ed.)

...A group of islands lying at the north‐east tip of Scotland. The islands are rich in archaeological monuments. Skara Brae is a well‐preserved prehistoric village, Maes Howe the best of a series of impressive prehistoric burial cairns, and numerous brochs and settlements attest to the islands' Pictish and Viking periods. Orkney, together with Shetland, became part of Scotland in consequence of the marriage of Margaret of Denmark ‐Norway to James III of Scotland in 1469...

Icknield Way   Quick reference

A Dictionary of British History (3 ed.)

...Way A trackway which runs from the central Thames, through the Chilterns, and northwards to the Wash near Hunstanton. Though claims are made for a prehistoric origin, it is doubtful that such long‐distance trackways existed, at least as a single entity, until the Iron Age at the...

tin‐mining   Quick reference

A Dictionary of British History (3 ed.)

...was undertaken in Cornwall and Devon in prehistoric times and continued into the 20th cent. Early mines exploited alluvial deposits near the surface but by the 16th cent. underground working following veins of ore had become the norm. Flood waters limited access to some tin deposits and deeper mining only became practicable during the 18th cent. when Newcomen beam‐engines made it possible to pump water from the workings. Cornish production supplied most of the needs of Britain and Europe until the mid‐19th cent. when many mines were worked...

Emain Macha   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to Irish History (2 ed.)

...skull of a Barbary ape from North Africa, the most exotic prehistoric archaeological find in Ireland, and interpreted as evidence of prestige gift‐exchange. About 95 bc the inhabitants erected a ritual structure, formed from concentric rows of 275 timber posts and measuring 130 feet in diameter. This was enigmatically filled with limestone boulders, its timbers set alight, and then covered with a mound of turves, presumably for ritual purposes. Navan was a major ceremonial centre during the prehistoric period, probably the spiritual and political capital of...

wolves   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to Irish History (2 ed.)

..., though indigenous to Ireland, are now extinct. Prehistoric remains have been found, and documentation of their presence exists from the 7th century. Wolf hunting took place from at least the 16th century, and as pastoral farming grew in importance the wolf suffered both from increased persecution and from a declining habitat. During the 17th century hunting was organized by improving landlords , encouraged by government bounties, and often stipulated in leases as a condition of tenure. The exact date of extinction is uncertain. The last known rewards...

Cruachain   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to Irish History (2 ed.)

...the royal capital of the Connachta , is located 3 miles north‐west of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon. It is a large archaeological complex consisting of over 50 monuments centred on Rathcroghan Mound. The monuments comprise enclosures, linear earthworks, and mounds, dating from the prehistoric through the medieval period. The name itself may derive from cruach , ‘mound’, and the site was traditionally known as a royal cemetery, inauguration site of the Connachta kings, and gateway to the Otherworld. Cruachain figures prominently in the Ulster tales as the capital of...

Curragh, the   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to Irish History (2 ed.)

...the , Co. Kildare, 5,000 acres of unenclosed down land, located just east of Kildare town, containing extensive remains of prehistoric earthworks. ‘Curragh’, meaning racecourse, indicates a long‐standing association with horse racing , probably as an adjunct to a fair . Races were organized on a more systematic basis from the 18th century, and the Curragh remains a major horse‐racing venue today. A camp for the training of militia was established during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars , and a permanent military base in 1854 . Though...

Wilson, Sir Daniel   Reference library

Carl Berger

The Oxford Companion to Canadian History

... ( 1848 ), an illustrated account of picturesque buildings and architectural detail, and The Archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland ( 1851 ), a comprehensive survey of Scottish prehistory, a word he introduced into the English language. Appointed in 1853 to teach history and English literature at University College in Toronto, Wilson turned to the study of North American Indians, who he supposed resembled the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe. He believed that all peoples shared a common origin as well as the same faculties and instincts and that...

Jenness, Diamond   Reference library

Barnett Richling

The Oxford Companion to Canadian History

...Aboriginal peoples. His numerous scholarly contributions included documenting social customs, beliefs, and oral traditions among Carrier, Coast Salish, and Sekani peoples in British Columbia, Sarcee in Alberta, and Ojibwa in Ontario; identifying two previously unknown prehistoric arctic cultures, Dorset Eskimo and Old Bering Sea; and writing The Indians of Canada , for years the standard reference on this vast subject. His expertise also found practical application, most notably in gaining government protection of archaeological sites in the Northwest...

Orpen, Goddard Henry (1852–1932)   Reference library

The Oxford Companion to Irish History (2 ed.)

...it is regrettable that he made no use of the governmental records in the Public Record Office of Ireland prior to their destruction in 1922 . He made a major contribution to medieval Irish archaeology by identifying Anglo‐Norman mottes as of that period, and not of either pre‐historic or Viking origin as had previously been held. Marie Therese...