I Dig Sheffield | Digging around Sheffield and the Peaks

Urn, bead, and arrowhead from Doll Tor

Object glossary

Bronze Age
2500-900 BC. In this period most people were farmers. They built stone circles, and wealthier people were buried with objects in round burial mounds. The working of bronze was developed over many centuries.

Cairn
A cairn is made up of stones piled on top of each other. In the Bronze Age, cairns could cover a human burial or cremation.

Excavation
Excavation is the process of digging into the earth, for example to find archaeological remains.

Faience
Faience is made of sand and clay mixed together. This is heated until the materials fuse together to form a blue-green glassy surface. It was mostly made into small objects, like beads.

J. P. and J. C. Heathcote
The Heathcotes were a father and son team who excavated archaeological sites mainly on the Peak District moors. They published the results of their work and the finds were housed in their museum at Birchover. These are now in Weston Park Museum.

Peak District
The Peak District National Park is between Sheffield and Manchester, and covers parts of six counties. It was established as the first National Park in 1951.

Pygmy cup
Pygmy cups are a type of Bronze Age pottery vessel. They are small vessels, and are mostly found with cremation burials.

Thomas Bateman
1821-1861. A gentleman antiquarian, from Middleton, Derbyshire, and son of William Bateman. He excavated many barrows in the Peak District and surrounding area. Many artefacts from his personal collection were bought by Weston Park Museum in 1893.

Urn
An urn is a pottery vessel like a vase that can be many different shapes and sizes.

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