I Dig Sheffield | Digging around Sheffield and the Peaks

Two boar tusks and two pieces of haematite from Liffs Low

Object glossary

Anglo-Saxon
430-1070 AD. The country was divided into a number of warring kingdoms. The richer people liked gold and silver jewellery. They buried their dead in barrows. Christianity was introduced from the continent and gradually replaced older beliefs.

Barrow
A barrow is an earthen mound, usually containing at least one human burial or cremation inside.

Cist
A cist is a setting of stones containing a human burial or cremation. Cist can be various shapes and can be buried underground or covered with an earth mound.

Haematite
Haematite is ferric oxide ore. It is a type of mineral that gives off a red colour when rubbed onto something else.

Neolithic
3500-2000 BC. In this period farming begins and develops, and trees are cleared for fields. Permanent homes and communities developed, and pottery was used for the first time. Groups of people used burial and ceremonial sites, and trade networks.

Prehistory
Prehistoric is usually taken to mean the time period before writing. In this country this is before the Roman conquest, which began in 43 AD.

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.

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