What is "lynchet"

n. (context archaeology English) A bank of earth that slowly builds up on the lower slope of a ploughed field; a feature of ancient field systems.

They are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. Some believe that they were passively formed under the long-term action of gravity and weathering on the loosened soil of a ploughed slope, while others believe they may have been intentionally formed, to prevent erosion and slippage of the ploughed slope.

The word is the diminutive form of lynch, now rarely appearing in the English language, indicating an agricultural terrace.