tbl_feature_types

Categorizes archaeological features by their function, shape, or construction to facilitate the study of historical human activities. Categories include: domestic structures (e.g., homes), public and ceremonial spaces (e.g., temples, public buildings), economic and industrial areas (e.g., workshops, kilns), defensive structures (e.g., fortifications, walls), agricultural modifications (e.g., terraces, irrigation systems), funerary sites (e.g., graves, tombs), transportation routes (e.g., roads, bridges), and water management systems (e.g., wells, aqueducts). These classifications provide insights into societal organization, cultural practices, and technological advancements across various eras and regions.

feature_type_id	feature_type_name	feature_type_description
1	Building	Structure interpreted as having an enclosed space designated for living or other activities.
2	Hunting pit	Pit interpreted as an animal trap
4	Fortification	Defensive structure, e.g. wall, earthwork, tower, fort, castle, fortified house
5	Layer	Any constrained sedimentological unit
6	Grave/burial	Burial of undefined type
7	Pit	Natural or man made hole or depression of unspecified type
8	Cooking pit	Pit interpreted as having been used for the heating of food. Often used to loosly categorize pits showing evidence of heating.
9	Well	Pit showing evidence of having contained standing water, often evidenced archaeological by horizontal organic layers at the bottom and collapsed steep sides. Sometimes intechangable with watering hole or dew pond.
10	Cesspit	Pit or structure used for waste products and/or refuse.
11	Drain	Longitudinal pit or structure suggesting or showing evidence of the transporation of liquids or other materials.
12	Midden	General term for waste pit or refuse layers.
13	Dark Earth	Gerneral term for cultural layers significantly darker in colour than surrounding sediments/layers.
14	Floor layer	Layer representing a previously active ground surface.
15	Structure	Any human made construction of unspecified type.
16	Road	Transport surface layer.
17	Stone setting	Structure or composition of stones either marking a burial or of unknown purpose.
18	Wall	Structure marking a boundary of, for example, a building or field. Most often but not exclusively made of stone, brick, wattle and daub, dung or turf.
19	Hearth	Fireplace
20	Industrial deposits	Layers formed by industrial activities of either known or unknown character, e.g. slag deposits, ash layers
21	Coffin	Container for human remains, often made of wood, stone or lead and occasionally bark.
22	Natural deposits	Layer defined as having originated through natural processes without the assistance of humans. Definition may be complicated by issues relating to the extent and influence of human actions.
23	Cist grave	Grave formed by a confined space containing the remains of one or more individuals. Structure often made of stone slabs as sides and roof (dolmen), either subterrainan, partially or fully above ground. Cist graves often are or have been covered by a barrow (earth mound). Term may refer to the whole grave or just the burial chamber.
24	Excavation unit/context/fill	Coherent sediment context within an excavation, without apriori description
25	Trench	A linear excavation feature. Although not structly a context bearing feature (as the trench is technically an absence of material) the term is sometimes used to label samples where no detailed contexts are given.
26	Post hole	A depression interpreted as having been made by a larger, often wooden (but occasionally stone), object piercing the ground and subsequently filled with sediment. The term is commonly used to describe impressions left behind from fence posts or roof bearing posts and overlaps to an extent with stake hole.
27	Undefined	No feature description available
28	Fill	Single context term used to describe the material within a constrained excavation unit or cut feature.
29	Roof	Upper covering of a structure. The bit that stops the rain getting in.
30	Stake hole	A depression interpreted as having been made by a smaller, often wooden (but occasionally metal), object piercing the ground and subsequently filled with sediment. The term is commonly used to describe impressions left behind from fence posts or roof bearing posts and overlaps to an extent with post hole, but is less common.
31	Ditch	A linear depression feature of unspecified size.
32	Foundation	Strucural support for a building or other construction (such as a wall)
33	Drain	Structure provided for the removal of water or water borne material for either waste disposal or drainage.
34	Enclosure	A generic term used to describe an area separated from its surrounding by some form of boundary. The boundary may consist of an earthen mound (which in itself may be the remains of an earlier construction), stones, fences or walls, to name but a few.
35	Lynchet	A terrace like earthen bank features resulting from the long term ploughing across slopes.
36	Kiln	A type of oven (thermally insulated chamber) for heating in the context of production or industry. E.g. brick kiln, pottery kiln. A large variety of types exist and there is some overlap in definitions between oven, kiln and furnace.
37	Oven	A thermally insulated chamber used for heating, most often used in the context of food preparation but may overlap with kiln or furnace by usage.
38	Furnace	A type of oven (themally insulated chamber) used for heating in the context of household heating or industrial processes (e.g. metallrgy). Some overlap with kiln occurs and there is variation in usage between British and American English.
39	Vessel (container)	Any type of container for the storage or utilisation of products, especially food or drink. May also refer to containers used in industrial processes, such as smelting or for the storage of raw materials.
40	Cultural layer	A layer of earth containing traces of human activity or habitation. Often represented by the inclusion of waste material (bone, wood etc.) and/or artefacts and anomolously high values for indicator elements (e.g. phosphates). The term is often used during excavation to describe layers considered of particular archaeological interest, and as such often an a-priori construct.
41	Wall trench	A structure interpreted as having been an excavation depression for the anchoring of a building’s wall or for the placement of its foundations or posts. May or may not contain evidence of post holes.
42	Pit-house floor	Layer consisting of occupation material/debris or compacted sediments interpreted as the floor of a subterranian dwelling, storage building or building used for other cultural activities. The term sunken featured building floor is sometimes used as equivalent or so as to avoid the implication of habitation in the structure.
503	Barrier	NULL
504	Beam	NULL
505	Border marker	NULL
506	Bridge	NULL
507	Collection pit (tar)	NULL
508	Container	NULL
509	Doorsill timber	NULL
510	Dragare (translation pending)	NULL
511	Fill layer	NULL
512	Floor joist	NULL
513	Gabion	Cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military application and landscaping
514	Grillage	A framework of timber or steel for support in marshy or treacherous soil
515	Horse gin	NULL
516	Jetty/Quay	NULL
517	Palisade(in water)	NULL
518	Pile bridge	NULL
519	Pile of logs	NULL
520	Pilings	NULL
521	Platform	NULL
522	Pole	NULL
523	Post	NULL
524	Quay	NULL
525	Revetment	NULL
526	Road construction	NULL
527	Roast bed	Deposits resulting from the roasting of ore.
528	Sill	NULL
529	Sill log	NULL
530	Sill or foundation	NULL
531	Slag deposit	Deposits of slag resulting from metal production.
532	Stone sill	NULL
533	Storage pit	NULL
534	Tar funnel	NULL
535	Timber	NULL
536	Timber storage	NULL
537	Top-board (Pipe organ)	NULL
538	Water gutter	NULL
539	Wooden feature	NULL
540	Wooden floor	NULL
541	Wooden house foundation	NULL
542	Wooden plank	NULL
543	Wooden sill	NULL
544	Wooden trackway	NULL
545	Wooden tub	NULL
546	Wooden wall	NULL
547	Profile	A wall of a trench/test pit in an archaeological excavation, depicting the layers at the site and often sampled.
548	Excavation area	NULL
550	Unknown	Feature type is either of a unknown character or not specified
551	Settlement site	A site previously inhabited where worked objects, raw material, refuse and/or remains from buildings are left.
552	Settlement site and monastery	NULL
553	Settlement site and wetlands	NULL
554	Setlement site and iron production site	NULL
555	Grave/burial and settlement site	NULL
556	Crafts site	NULL
557	Iron production site	NULL
558	Tiled kiln factory	NULL
559	Monastery	NULL
560	Cult site	A vague term which alludes to the site having a religous/ceremonial character.
561	Church	NULL
562	Trading site	NULL
563	Palisade	NULL
564	Pile dwelling	NULL
565	Unprocessed clay	NULL
566	Heap of fire-cracked stones	A heap of stones that have cracked and weathered due to heating.
567	City layer	A cultural layer of a city character.
568	Brick kiln	NULL
569	Settlement site?	NULL
570	Grave/burial?	NULL
571	Trading site/Settlement site	NULL
572	Hoard	A collection of items intentionally deposited in the ground
573	Surface find	Object found exposed in the surface layer without any connection to its original context.
574	Waste container	Container that stores waste product.
575	Ground gutter	Drainage system installed beneath the ground.
576	Castle	A fortified structure.
577	Abutment	Structure supporting the ends of a bridge.
578	Dam	Barrier that restricts water flow.
579	Tannery vessel	Vessel used for tanning.
580	Floor	A flat surface of a room or area which you walk on, it may consist of compacted dirt or other material such as wood and stone.
581	Flooring	Permanent covering of a floor in a building that makes up the walking surface.
582	Dock	One or a group of structures on or near a shire, used to handle boats or ships.
583	Wicker structure	A structure made using plants and the wicker weaving method.
584	Quay/Wharf	An area used to dock and unload people and cargo. Unspecified if it is for ships or boats.
585	Log construction	Any kind of construction made out of logs.
586	Charcoal kiln	Production of charcoal.
587	Timber framed house	A distinctive style of building, with heavy timbers used as framing.
588	Cellar	Room under the ground floor.
589	Fortified tower	A defensive structure that forms a part of fortifications such as castles or defensive walls.
590	Box	Container made out of different materials, e.g. wood or other plant material.
591	Trunctuation	Also referred to as a ‘cut’ refers to the cutting away of a deposit or a structure. E.g. a cultural layer may be trunctuated by a pit constructed at a later point in time.
592	Test pit	An archaeological test pit to survey for cultural remains.
593	Pile bed	A collection of piles deposited together
594	Pile row	NULL
595	Gutter	A depression designed to collect fluids, but not necessarily a street gutter.
596	Post-and-Plank building	A building type where sturdy posts are placed vertically for primary support, and planks are fitted horizontally to create walls.
597	Stave Church	Medieval wooden Christian church building that used to be common in north-western Europe. Built using the post-and-lintel construction method.
598	Stone coffin	NULL
599	Port	A place for ships to load and discharge cargo and passengers. This may encompass one or multiple wharves and loading areas.
600	Logboat	Boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Also referred to as dugout canoe.
601	Log coffin	NULL
602	Support	A support structure for buildings and constructions
603	Wood remains	Wood remains where it is difficult to discern its original purpose.
604	Brick floor	Surface constructed from individual bricks (made from clay) laid like tiles, with or without mortar or grouting.
605	Tar kiln outlet	Tar kilns are often constructed in a slope, with the outlet for the tar positioned below the kiln. Outlets were typically a hollow log, chute or similar.
606	Wooden bridge	NULL
607	Wooden coffin	NULL
608	Wooden structure	NULL
609	Wooden gutter	Drainage system
610	Wooden pipe	Wooden water pipe
611	Barrel	NULL
612	Bedding layer	Materials that provide a bed, flat layer, for a structure or building. E.g. debris from demolished buildings used to form a base for a road.
613	Carriage	NULL
614	Moat	A deep and wide trench surrounding a fortification.
615	Water pipe	NULL
616	Drawbridge	A type of movable bridge used with fortifications and bridges.
617	Storage	NULL
618	Shipwreck	NULL