Keyword search

Think of a word to do with history or archaeology and enter it into the empty field. If you want to find only records with images, click on the box underneath.

Try a search with the word castle in the empty field and click the image box.

The results come up at first with one summary line describing the site, whether the site is a building, landscape, findspot or archaeological site, the parish it’s in and how many images there are attached to the record. You can sort the records by clicking on the header at the top of each column. Sort the records by clicking on the image header. The record with most images should be Buckingham church. Click on the summary to see more of that record.

First you get the reference number, summary and number of images. You can also see the grid reference and parish. To the right you can click to see the site shown on a map. Further down the record lists the date of the site and what it is classed as, in this case, a parish church. No artefacts have been found here so there are no associated find types. The public access information tells you whether the site is visible by the public and whether you can get in. If the site is protected the next line notes it, in this case the church is a listed building at Grade II. Underneath this line comes the full description, which in this case describes the building and some excavation that has taken place there. Underneath this are references to the books and reports where the information has come from and any related records, which may record different interpretations of what the site is. In this case the church is related to the record of some offering plate. Thumbnails of the attached images are below. If you click on any of these it opens a larger image in a new window.

Answer these questions from the rest of your results. 

1. Where is the fake medieval castle, built in 1769?
2. What is the name of the earth mound that castles were built on?
3. When was the castle in Weston Turville built?
4. The earthworks at Brill are not necessarily of a castle. What are the other suggested functions?

Quick search

This search lets you choose what period, place and type of archaeological site or object you are looking for. You can choose something from just one drop-down list or a combination of two or all three. Do this search: choose Saxon from the When list and inhumation cemetery from the What list. When your results come up you can click on the Map the results button at the bottom. Answer these questions:

1. Where are most of the cemeteries?
2. Click on the parish header. Which parish has the most Saxon inhumation cemeteries?
3. Find the only record with images. You may need to go to the next page of results (you can do this by clicking on the number 2 at the bottom of the results). Where is the cemetery?
4. Look at the images attached to this record. Where were the two saucer brooches found?
5. Approximately how many burials were found in Chepping Wycombe? Why don’t we know much about them?
6. Three burials were found in Ellesborough. How were they found? Name two artefacts found with the burials.

Advanced search

On the advanced search you can search for all kinds of things. You need to choose one thing from three drop-down lists along the top and then you can refine your search further by choosing options from the other drop-down lists below. Choose Type/Description from the first drop-down list. Choose Monument status from the second drop-down list to the right. Choose ancient monument from the third drop-down list on the far right (A Scheduled Ancient Monument is protected by law against damage). On the second level down, choose Time Period from the first drop-down list, Calendar Years from the second and enter 100-400 AD in the boxes. Run the search and answer the following questions: 

1. Name three parishes with scheduled Roman villas.
2. Find the villa in Hambleden excavated in the early twentieth century. What is it called?
3. How many infant burials were found at the villa in Hambleden?
4. When were the Roman barrows in Thornborough excavated? What was in the burial chamber?

Go back to find more Archaeological skills and concepts.