A sauna is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is typically used to measure temperature; a hygrometer can be used to measure levels of humidity or steam. Infrared therapy is often referred to as a type of sauna, but according to the Finnish sauna organisations, infrared is not a sauna.
In archaeology, fire-cracked rock (FCR) or fire-affected rock (FAR), is rock of any type that has been altered and split as the result of deliberate heating. It is a feature of many archaeological sites. In many cases, fire-cracked rock results when stones were used to line hearths and earth ovens or were heated to provide a longer-lasting heat-source.
The Finnish sauna is a substantial part of Finnish and Estonian culture.
A menhir, standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top.
Sentō (銭湯) is a type of Japanese communal bathhouse where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bathhouses have been quite utilitarian, with a tall barrier separating the sexes within one large room, a minimum of lined-up faucets on both sides, and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others. Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bathhouses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have baths. Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skinship in pseudo-English Japanese. Others go to a sentō because they live in a small housing facility without a private bath or to enjoy bathing in a spacious room and to relax in saunas or jet baths that often accompany new or renovated sentōs.
Moseley Bog and Joy's Wood Local Nature Reserve, formerly The Dell, is a Local Nature Reserve in the Moseley area of Birmingham, England, with an area of about 12 ha. Along with the nearby Sarehole Mill, and a number of other sites, it forms part of the Shire Country Park.
Navan Fort is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the Ulaidh. It is a large circular hilltop enclosure—marked by a bank and ditch—inside which is a circular mound and the remains of a ring barrow. Archeological investigations show that there were once buildings on the site, including a huge roundhouse-like structure that has been likened to a temple. In a ritual act, this timber structure was filled with stones, deliberately burnt down and then covered with earth to create the mound which stands today. It is believed that Navan was a pagan ceremonial site and was regarded as a sacred space. It features prominently in Irish mythology, especially in the tales of the Ulster Cycle. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, "the [Eamhain Mhacha] of myth and legend is a far grander and mysterious place than archeological excavation supports".
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other criteria.
In archaeology or anthropology, a pot boiler or cooking stone is a heated stone used to heat water - typically by people who did not have access to pottery or metal vessels.
Fulacht fiadh is the name given to one of many burned mounds, dating from the Bronze Age, found in Ireland. Most surviving examples consist of a low horseshoe-shaped mound of charcoal-enriched soil, and heat-shattered stone, with a cooking pit located in a slight depression at its centre. In ploughed fields, they are apparent as black spreads of earth interspersed with small sharp stones.
A steam shower is a type of bathing where a humidifying steam generator produces water vapor that is dispersed around a person's body. A steam shower is essentially a steam room that offers the typical features of a bathroom shower. Steam showers are generally found in self-contained enclosures that prevent the water vapour from escaping into the rest of the room, avoiding damage to drywall, paint, or wallpaper. Steam showers combine the functionality of a standard steam room with many additional features including a shower, FM radio and hydrotherapy. Steam showers are available in a variety of materials, including tile, acrylic, fiberglass, glass, stone, and wood.
A banya is originally a Russian steam bath with a wood stove. It is considered an important part of Russian culture. The bath takes place in a small room or building designed for dry or wet heat sessions. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. Genders were traditionally segregated in the banya, with separate rooms for each sex.
An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. The earliest known earth oven was discovered in Central Europe and dated to 29,000 BC. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food. Earth ovens have been used in many places and cultures in the past, and the presence of such cooking pits is a key sign of human settlement often sought by archaeologists. Earth ovens remain a common tool for cooking large quantities of food where no equipment is available. They have been used in various civilizations around the world and are still commonly found in the Pacific region to date.
Minworth is a village situated in the civil parish of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, within Minworth there are three hamlets Wiggins Hill, Peddimore and The Greaves. Minworth lies within the City of Birmingham on its northeastern outer fringe, where it forms part of the Sutton Walmley and Minworth electoral ward and borders the North Warwickshire district, some 4.5 miles southeast of Sutton Coldfield town centre.
Drombeg stone circle is a small axial stone circle located 2.4 km (1.5 mi) east of Glandore, County Cork, Ireland.
Irish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with the island of Ireland. It has evolved from centuries of social and political change and the mixing of different cultures, predominantly with those from nearby Britain and other European regions. The cuisine is founded upon the crops and animals farmed in its temperate climate and the abundance of fresh fish and seafood from the surrounding waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Chowder, for example, is popular around the coasts.
Liddle Burnt Mound is a Bronze Age site on the island of South Ronaldsay, Orkney. The site consists of the remains of a building and a mound that surrounds it on three sides. The purpose of the site is controversial, but most investigators believe burnt mounds hosted a "domestic function", perhaps related to cooking.
A deer hay wind, deer fold or elrick is an artificial, natural or modified natural feature used in the culling, capture or management of deer in relation to deer parks or natural woodland and open countryside. These structures have existed for many centuries and after falling out of use and their function having been forgotten the more substantial earth or stone examples have attracted names such as Roman Trenches, Old Fortifications, etc. The hinds were the main target of the hunt.
Magh Adhair is a former inauguration site and place of archaeological significance located near the village of Quin, County Clare, in Ireland. Traditionally known as the place in which the kings of Thomond were installed, most notably the O'Briens, the site itself consists of numerous monuments, including a mound, standing stone, fulacht fiadh and a bullaun stone.
Tooreen, is a townland of County Kerry, Ireland.
