Archaeology Wordsmith

Results for archaeological:

archaeological: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Of, relating to, or concerning archaeology.
archaeological chemistry: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological chemistry
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The application of chemical theories, processes, and experimental procedures to obtaining archaeological data and to solutions of problems in archaeology. This field includes laboratory analysis of artifacts and materials found in archaeological context.
archaeological chronology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological chronology
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: Establishment of the temporal sequences of human cultures by the application of a variety of dating methods to cultural remains.
archaeological conservancy: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological conservancy
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any private, nonprofit organization working to save archaeological sites from destruction. This is done primarily by purchasing threatened sites and protecting the sites until they can be turned over to responsible agencies such as national parks.
archaeological culture: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The constantly recurring artifacts or group of assemblages that represent or are typical of a specific ancient culture at a particular time and place. The term describes the maximum grouping of all assemblages that represent the sum of the human activities carried out within a culture.
archaeological data: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological data
CATEGORY: term; technique
DEFINITION: Material collected and recorded as significant evidence by an archaeologist. Archaeological data falls into four classes: artifacts, ecofacts, features, and structures.
archaeological geology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The use of geological techniques and methods to archaeological work. It is different from geoarchaeology in that the latter is a subfield of archaeology focusing on the physical context of deposits.
Archaeological Institute of America: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: AIA
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A professional organization whose membership is predominantly specialists in Old World archaeology. The AIA publishes the popular magazine Archaeology and the scholarly American Journal of Archaeology.
archaeological layers: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Sedimentary and architectural units defined by a combination of lithological, pedological, and material cultural criteria.
archaeological method: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological method
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any of a variety of means used by archaeologists to find, recover, analyze, preserve, and describe the artifacts and other remains of past human activities.
archaeological reconnaissance: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological reconnaissance
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A systematic method of attempting to locate, identify, and record the distribution of archaeological sites on the ground by looking at areas' contrasts in geography and environment.
archaeological record: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeological record
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The surviving physical remains of past human activities, which are sought, recovered, analyzed, preserved, and described by archaeologists in an attempt to reconstruct the past.
Archaeological Resource Protection Act: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ARPA
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Legislation enacted in 1979 which provided the government with civil and criminal outlets to pursue individuals vandalizing or looting cultural resources on federal properties.
archaeological sequence: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method of placing a group of similar objects into a chronological sequence, taking into account stylistic changes that occurred over time.
archaeological site: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: site; archeological site
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Any concentration of artifacts, ecofacts, features, and structures manufactured or modified by humans.
archaeological survey: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The methods used to examine an area to determine if archaeological deposits are present.
archaeological theory: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any theoretical concepts used to assess the framework and meaning of the remains of past human activity. Such a theory is used to guide a reconstruction and an interpretation of the past by looking beyond the facts and artifacts for explanations of prehistoric events.
archaeological unit: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An arbitrary classification unit set up by an archaeologist to separate one grouping of artifacts from another in space and time.
archaeometry: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeological science
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The large field of work that entails the physical and/or chemical analyses (measurement) of archaeological substances, their constituents, ages, residues, etc.
assessment: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeological assessment
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An aspect of cultural resource management in which the surface of a project area is systematically covered by pedestrian survey in order to locate, document, and evaluate archaeological materials therein.
context: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeological context
CATEGORY: term; technique
DEFINITION: The time and space setting of an artifact, feature, or culture. The context of a find is its position on a site, its relationship through association with other artifacts, and its chronological position as revealed through stratigraphy. Certain features or artifacts may be normally associated with particular contexts, for example a pottery type may be found in the context of certain burials. If such an artifact is found out of context, it may suggest the previous presence of a burial, the robbery of a burial, or a place of manufacture of the pots that accompanied burials. An artifact's context usually consists of its immediate matrix (the material surrounding it e.g. gravel, clay, or sand), its provenience (horizontal and vertical position within the matrix), and its association with other artifacts (occurrence together with other archeological remains, usually in the same matrix). The assessment of context includes study of what has happened to the find since it was buried in the ground.
ethnoarchaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ethnoarchaeological studies
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of contemporary cultures with a view to understanding the behavioral relationships which underlie the production of material culture. It is the use of archaeological techniques and data to study these living cultures and the use of ethnographic data to inform the examination of the archaeological record. It is a relatively new branch of the discipline, followed particularly in America. It seeks to compare the patterns recognized in the material culture from archaeological contexts with patterns yielded through the study of living societies. The ethnoarchaeologist is particularly concerned with the manufacture, distribution, and use of artifacts, the remains of various processes that might be expected to survive, and the interpretation of archaeological material in the light of the ethnographic information. Less materially oriented questions such as technological development, subsistence strategies, and social evolution are also compared in archaeology and ethnology under the general heading of ethnographic analogy. Lewis Binford's study of the Nunamiut Eskimo is one of the best known studies in ethnoarchaeology.
field archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeological field survey; humps and bumps archaeology
CATEGORY: technique; branch
DEFINITION: The study of archaeological remains through observation and interpretation of what is in the field" without recourse to excavation. Some features are readily seen and identifiable and others must be sought out or are found only by chance disturbance. The technique is associated with O.G.S. Crawford who demonstrated its methods and value. The three stages are observation (link with air photography) interpretation and accurate recording."
recovery: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeological recovery
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The act or process of obtaining artifacts from a site for the purpose of deriving archaeological data.
accession catalog: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An accounting used in the lab after artifacts and ecofacts are initially processed and providing the numbers with which artifacts and ecofacts are marked for storage. Its records describe and record what was found during an archaeological investigation and it is the primary record for all materials after excavation.
accession number: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The number assigned to an archaeological collection that identifies its origin; part of the catalog number.
actualistic study: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Detailed observation of the actual use of archaeological artifacts, ecofacts, and features, used to produce general analogies for archaeological interpretation.
aeolian: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: eolian
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Of or pertaining to the wind. This adjective is used to describe deposits or materials moved or affected by the wind or processes related to the wind. Aeolian deposits can bury archaeological materials intact or with little disturbance. Aeolian erosion can collapse and displace archaeological materials. Aeolian particle movement can alter archaeological material through abrasion.
aerial archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study and location of archaeological sites and features through the use of aerial observation, photography, and surveys.
aerial photography: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: air photography, aerophotography, aerial reconnaissance
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique of photographic observation and survey of the ground from an aircraft, spacecraft, or satellite which provides detailed information about sites and features without excavation. It is most important for locating archaeological sites before destruction of the landscape through building, road construction, or modern agricultural practices. When viewed from the air, sites may be revealed as crop marks, soil marks, shadow marks, or frost marks. For example, the plan of a site, ditches, walls, pits, etc. can be reflected in the way the crops grew (crop marks) or a pattern of dark occupation soil may show against a lighter topsoil or stone from walls may be just under the surface (soil marks). Oblique aerial photos, from lower altitudes, detect shadows created by earthworks and permit more detailed interpretations of known sites (shadow marks). Variations in the amount of frost retained on the ground may indicate the presence of buried archaeological features (frost marks). Though these can sometimes be recognized on the ground by careful fieldwalking and contour planning, much larger areas can be examined from the air and overall patterns will be clearer. The same site may not be susceptible every year to aerial photographs, as local climatic variation affects the nature of the feature fillings; a site may only be seen once in ten or twenty years. The use of false-color infrared photography has increased the versatility of aerial photography and the development of photogrammetry allows the accurate mapping of both archaeological and geographical information. Recording of thermographic and radar images complements photographic methods. Aerial photography has proved to be one of the most successful methods of discovering archaeological sites. Large areas of ground can be covered quickly, and the ground plan of a new site can be plotted from the photographs. Features can be revealed in extraordinary detail by these means. The pioneers of this technique were O.G.S. Crawford and Major Allen in Britain and Père Poidebard in Syria, though its first use goes back to 1906 at Stonehenge.
aerial survey: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: aerial reconnaissance
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An important survey technique for locating and defining archaeological sites from the air.
Aguada: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A culture of northwestern Argentina during the period 700-1000 AD, located on the western slopes of the Andes, and noted for the fine quality of its arts. Decorated copper and bronze plaques and polychrome yellow and black pottery with designs of cats, dragons, humans, birds, warriors, weaponry, and trophy heads are characteristic and reflect a possible influence from Tiahuanaco. Decapitated burials are a further indication that warfare was a dominant preoccupation of Aguada. Its sudden disappearance from the archaeological record in c 1000 AD was probably the result of invasion from the east.
Akkad: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Agade
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Ancient region in what is now central Iraq and was the northern (or northwestern) division of ancient Babylonian civilization. It is an archaeologically unlocated site, in or near Babylon roughly where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are closest to each other. The name Akkad was taken from the city of Agade, which was founded by Sargon in about 2370 BC. Sargon united various city-states in the area and his rule encompassed much of Mesopotamia, creating the first empire in history.
Alexandria: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Raqote
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The Greek city founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, capital of the Ptolemy dynasty, located on a narrow strip of land in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Alexandria was placed on the earlier Egyptian settlement of Raqote of which pre-Ptolemaic seawalls are the only archaeological traces. The great city soon replaced Memphis as the capital of Egypt and is famed for its lighthouse (Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, built by Sostratos of Knidos between 299-279 BC; destroyed in 1326 AD by an earthquake), the jetty of Heptastadion, the royal palaces; and the Museion, a library and institution of scientific and philological research. It was composed of quarters: Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, and Kings. The city became the center of trade and culture in the eastern Mediterranean. The Ptolemys ruled over Egypt until 30 BC.
American Anthropological Association: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: AAA
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A professional organization for anthropologists with a special division for archaeologists. The association publishes American Anthropologist and Anthropology Newsletter. The Archaeology Division publishes the monograph series Archaeological Papers of the AAA.
Amudian: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Amud
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A culture and industry close to the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, Israel. There are several important caves, including Emireh, the type site of the Emiran, and Zuttiyeh, the type site of the Amudian. These demonstrate the early occurrence of Upper Palaeolithic blades and burins even earlier than the Mousterian and its flake tools. The Amud cave is Mousterian or Emiran and in 1961 the skeletal remains were found of two adults and two children estimated to have lived about 50,000-60,000 years ago (remains held in the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, Jerusalem). They consist of a skeleton of an adult male about 25 years old, a fragment of an adult jaw, and skull fragments of infants. The skeleton has an exceptionally large brain (1800 cc). The remains suggest that they are part of a group known as Near Eastern Neanderthal man. This group represents a mixture of West Asian features similar to those of fossils found in 1957 in Iraq that were estimated to date from about 46,000 years ago and those of the Upper Paleolithic people who lived in southwestern France and the Middle East from about 10,000 to 35,000 years ago. These findings provide more evidence that Neanderthal man was a highly varied species who lived in much of the Northern Hemisphere, except the New World. Amudian material has been recognized at the cave of et-Tabun (Mount Carmel) and at sites like Jabrud, Adlun, and the Abri Zumoffen in the Levant. It has been suggested that the Amudian may have been ancestral to subsequent Upper Palaeolithic industries of the Middle East, hence the name 'pre-Aurignacian' which has sometimes been given to industries of Amudian type.
analogy: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An anthropological practice using reasoning based on the assumption that if two things are similar in some respects, then they must be similar in other respects. Ethnographic information from recent cultures is then used to make informed hypotheses about archaeological cultures and to compare societies and culture traits of recorded societies with those of prehistoric sites. Analogy is the basis of most archaeological interpretation (see general and specific analogy).
analysis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: analytical archaeology
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A stage in archaeological research design that involves isolating, describing, and structuring data, usually by typological classification, along with chronological, functional, technological, and constituent determinations. The research involves artifactual and nonartifactual data. The method evolved from the tendency to formalize the archaeological process, especially through the work of LR Binford, DL Clarke, and JC Gardin. Computer science and mathematics are used to elaborate the means for transforming simple descriptions of archaeological data into cultural, economic, and social reconstructions of earlier societies. This type of research is attempts to provide archaeology with a theoretical framework based on scientific method.
ancient DNA: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Genetic material preserved in the archaeological remains of bones and plants that can be studied for past genetic relationships
Angkor: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Archaeological site in northwestern Cambodia which was the capital of the Khmer empire in Kampuchia and founded in c 9 AD (c 802). The name, from Sanskrit 'nagara', means royal city the capital". As the capital of the Khmer empire form the 9th-15th centuries its most imposing monuments are Angkor Wat a temple complex built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II (reigned 1113-c. 1150 AD) and Angkor Thom a temple complex built about 1200 by King Jayavarman VII (1181-c 1215 AD). These monuments were lost in jungle and rediscovered in the last century. In total there are more than 250 monuments built almost exclusively in sandstone. The Thais conquered Angkor in 1431 and it was abandoned."
Angkor Borei: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The site of the capital of the kingdom of Funan towards the end of the 6th century. The rich archaeological site is located south of Phnom Penh, near the Vietnam border, in Cambodia. It appears as Na-fu-na in Chinese writings and is identified with Naravaranagara. There are many stone statuary.
Anglo-Saxons: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The name of the combined cultures, the Angles and the Saxons, who left their North Sea coastal homelands in the 5th century AD and moved to eastern England after the breakdown of Roman Rule. The name derives from two specific groups --- the Angles of Jutland and the Saxons from northern Germany. Some other Germanic peoples took part in the migrations, such as the Jutes and the Frisians, and they are sometimes included under this name. The language, culture, and settlement pattern of medieval and later England can be traced directly to the Anglo-Saxons. The movement to the area probably began in the 4th century when barbarian Foederati went to serve in the Roman army in Britain. The main immigration began in the middle of the 5th century. Bede, writing in the early 8th century, gives the only reliable historical record for this period, though incidental information can be found in the Old English literature, particularly the poem of Beowulf. The English kingdoms took shape by the late 6th century. Archaeologically, there are three periods: the Early or Pagan Saxon period went until the general acceptance of Christianity in the mid-7th century; the Middle Saxon period until the 9th century, and the Late Saxon period which went up till the Norman invasion of 1066. The earliest period's remains are mainly burial deposits, often cremation in urns or by inhumation in cemeteries of trench graves or under barrows. Grave goods often include knives, sword or spear, shield boss, and brooches, buckles, beads, girdle-hangers, and pottery -- depending on the gender. Most archaeological evidence comes from the cemeteries, including the exceptional ship burial at Sutton Hoo. Churches were built and in the Middle and Late Saxon periods, including Bradford-Upon-Avon and Deerhurst. Important monuments of the Middle and Late Saxon periods are the royal palaces at Yeavering and Cheddar. The Late Saxon period, after the Viking invasions, saw the growth of the first towns in Britain since the Roman period, following the establishment of Burhs in response to the Scandinavian threat. There was wide-ranging trade, developed coinage, and improved pottery manufacture and metal-working. The separate British kingdoms (most important: Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex) eventually became a unified England with a capital at Winchester in Wessex. The Anglo-Saxons were responsible for the introduction of the English language and for the establishment of the settlement patterns of medieval England.
Anse au Meadow, L': CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland that is the only known Viking settlement in the New World. The Norse explorers were the first Europeans to reach what is now Canadian explorers, c 1000 AD, as is recorded in the Icelandic sagas and recently confirmed by the archaeological discovery of the site at L' Anse-aux-Meadows. Excavations revealed traces of turf-walled houses similar to those at Viking sites in Greenland and Iceland. Also found was a spindle whorl, iron nails, and a smithy with pieces of bog-iron and several pounds of slag -- all of Norse origin. Radiocarbon dates range from AD 700-1080 with a concentration around 1000, which is the period when, according to the sagas, Norsemen led by Leif Eriksson sailed west from Greenland and explored the coast of America, which they named Vinland.
anthracology: CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of human interactions with the plant environment. Wood charcoal from archaeological sites is studied by microscope and statistically analyzed.
applied archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The use of archaeological methods and techniques to obtain information about contemporary society and to conserve sites from being destroyed.
archaeoastronomy: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: astroarchaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of the relationship between prehistoric knowledge of astronomical events through calendars, observatory sites, and astronomical images in art and past cultural behavior. The field includes the study of mathematical correlations between archaeological features and the movements of celestial bodies. Some sites (Stonehenge, New Grange) show a definite interest in simple solar observations. Ancient astronomical knowledge can be inferred through the study of the alignments and other aspects of these archaeological sites.
archaeobotany: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeoethnobotany, paleoethnobotany, paleoentomology, palaeoentomology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of botanical remains at archaeological sites. The field examines the natural surroundings of flora as well as the human-controlled flora on sites. The terms palaeoethnobotany, palaeoentomology, and palaeobotany are sometimes used interchangeably in the literature of archaeology.
archaeofauna: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeofauna
CATEGORY: technique; fauna
DEFINITION: Any assemblage of animal remains recovered from a single archaeological context.
archaeography: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archeography
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The systematic description or archaeological objects over time made by nonprofessionals (travelers, traders, diplomats, etc.) who are often in situations where they view sites and antiquities in a much better state of preservation than that in which they are today. These accounts, either in writings or drawings, are valued in archaeological studies.
archaeometric: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeometry, archeometry
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Relating or referring to the use of scientific techniques from fields such as chemistry, geology, physics, and other sciences for the analysis of archaeological data.
archaeoparasitology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of parasites in archaeological contexts.
archaeozoology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: zooarchaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of animal remains, especially bones, from archaeological contexts, including the identification and analysis of faunal species as an aid to reconstructing human diets, determining the impact of animals on past economies, and in understanding the environment at the time of deposition. Animal remains are collected, cleaned, sorted, identified, and measured for their study and interpretation. The study of bones involves calculations of minimum numbers of individuals belonging to each species found; their size, age, sex, stature, dentition, and whether the bones have any marks from implements implying butchering and eating. Archaeologists attempt to answer questions such as how many species of domesticated animals there were, how far wild animals were exploited, how many very young animals there were to determine kill patterns and climate changes, in what way bones were butchered, what the sex ratios there were in determining breeding strategies, and if there were any animals of unusual size. By analyzing remains from different parts of a site it may be possible to understand some of the internal organization of the settlement, while a comparison between sites within a region may show areas of specialization.
Arcy-sur-Cure: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A series of caves southeast of Paris with Upper Palaeolithic art, including the Grotte du Cheval, Grotte del Hyene, and Grotte du Renne are archaeologically the most important. The early occupation levels are of the Riss period with Mousterian (with Neanderthal remains), Chatel-Perronian, Aurignacian, later Perigordian levels.
Argos: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Argos (meaning agricultural plain)"
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: City in the northeastern Peloponnese of Greece, just north of the head of the Gulf of Argolis. The name was applied to several districts of ancient Greece but it is most often used to describe the easternmost part of the Peloponnesian peninsula and the city of Argos was its capital. Homer described it as the fertile plain inhabited by Agamemnon, Diomedes, and other heroes in the Iliad". The site was probably occupied since the Neolithic / Early Bronze Age and was very prominent in Mycenaean times (c 1300-1200 BC). Argos was probably the base of Dorian operations in the Peloponnese c 1100-1000 BC and from then on the dominant city-state of Argolis until it allied itself with Sparta after the Peloponnesian War in 420 BC. In 392 it broke with Sparta to unite with Corinth in the Corinthian War. Argos later joined the Achaean League (229) and Argos became its center after the Roman conquest and destruction of Corinth (146). The city flourished in Byzantine times and did not decline until around 1204 AD. One tyrant Pheidon is thought to have introduced primitive coinage and a weights and measures system. Archaeological excavations began in 1854 on the Argive Heraeum and Argos was famed for its connection with the goddess Hera. There was a natural sanctuary there long before the Dorians came c 1100-1000 BC. The shrine is reported to be of extreme antiquity. The statue of Hera for a new 5th-century temple was done by the celebrated sculptor Polycleitus whose work was said to rival that of Pheidias the sculptor of the Parthenon. There is material evidence of Neolithic Early and Middle Bronze Age a Mycenaean cemetery with chamber tombs Geometric and Archaic features and ruins of the classical and Roman city. The Larisa hill was evidently the Mycenaean acropolis and citadel holding a classical temple. There was also a Roman theater and small odeum. The site is mostly covered by the modern city."
Arretine Ware: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: terra sigillata ware; Samian ware
CATEGORY: ceramics
DEFINITION: A type of bright-red, polished pottery originally made at Arretium (modern Arezzo) in Tuscany from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. The term means literally ware made of clay impressed with designs. The ware was produced to be traded, especially throughout the Roman Empire. It is clearly based on metal prototypes and the body of the ware was generally cast in a mold. Relief designs were also cast in molds which had been impressed with stamps in the desired patterns and then applied to the vessels. The quality of the pottery was high, considering its mass production. However, there was a gradual roughness to the forms and decoration over the four centuries of production. After the decline of Arretium production, terra sigillata was made in Gaul from the 1st century AD at La Graufesenque (now Millau) and later at other centers in Gaul. Examples having come from Belgic tombs in pre-Roman Britain and from the port of Arikamedu in southern India. The style changes and the potter's marks stamped on the vessels made these wares a valuable means of dating the other archaeological material found with them.
Asmar, Tell: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Eshnunna
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The ancient city of Eshnunna on the Diyala River of Iraq, inhabited from the Uruk to Old Babylonian period. Excavations here have provided the archaeological definition of the Early Dynastic and Akkadian periods. In the early 2nd millennium BC, Tell Asmar was the center of the kingdom of Eshnunna.
assemblage: CATEGORY: artifact; term
DEFINITION: A group of objects of different or similar types found in close association with each other and thus considered to be the product of one people from one period of time. Where the assemblage is frequently repeated and covers a reasonably full range of human activity, it is described as a culture; where it is repeated but limited in content, e.g. flint tools only (a set of objects in one medium), it is called an industry. When a group of industries are found together in a single archaeological context, it is called an assemblage. Such a group characterizes a certain culture, era, site, or phase and it is the sum of all subassemblages. Assemblage examples are artifacts from a site or feature.
Atwater, Caleb (1778-1867): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: An American archaeological pioneer with his work on the mounds of the Midwest.
auger: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: augering (n)
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A tool used to probe into the ground and extract a small sample of a deposit without performing actual excavation. Its applications in archaeology are as a means of sampling and understanding the geological environment of a site and also for extracting peat for pollen analysis. There are various types of augers and they can be manual- or power-driven. Simple augers bring up samples on the thread of a drill bit. More elaborate ones open a chamber to collect a core after the drill has bored to an appropriate depth. Augering is generally restricted to the earliest stages of archaeological reconnaissance to determine the depth and characteristics of deposits.
Axum: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Aksum
CATEGORY: culture; site
DEFINITION: A kingdom formed from at least the 1st century AD in southwestern Ethiopia which developed into an empire including northern Ethiopia, Sudan, and southern Arabia. It is also the name of a city there, in existence since the 3rd century AD which rose to be the center of the kingdom. The culture incorporated elements from pre-Axumite cultures of the area. It was the first state in eastern Africa to make gold, silver, and copper coins, which is evidence of economic prosperity from international trade (possibly of ivory). The history of Axum is reflected in the inscriptions and religious symbols on those coins, which run approximately from the 3rd-7th centuries. Axum adopted Christianity in 4th century. There is archaeological evidence for large multi-story stone buildings and a series of monolithic funerary stelae up to 33 meters high. Axum was finally conquered by the Axumites in the 4th century, though it achieved political control over parts of southern Arabia in the 6th century. Thereafter it declined and was sacked in the 10th century.
backfill: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: backfill (v.), back-filling (n.); backdirt
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Excavated earth put to one side at an archaeological site, which is later used to refill the excavation. The purpose of backfilling may be to prevent erosion or vandalizing.
Baghdad: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The present-day capital of Iraq, a site 330 miles northwest of the Persian Gulf at the intersection of historic trade routes (Khorasn Road, part of the Silk Route) which was the foremost city of ancient Mesopotamia. Archaeological evidence shows that the site of Baghdad was occupied by various peoples long before the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637 AD, and several ancient empires had capitals there. The true founding of the city dates from 762 when the Abbasids moved the Islamic capital there. It was the Islamic capital from the 8th-13th centuries. Abbassid Baghdad is buried beneath the modern city. There was a palace, a congregational mosque, ministries and barracks, surrounded by walls and a moat. In the late 8th and early 9th centuries, Baghdad was large and at its height economically; it was considered the richest city in the world. The caliph abandoned Baghdad in favor of Samarra from 836-892. The city was burnt by the Mongols in 1258, rebuilt and sacked by Timur in 1400. The glory of Baghdad is written about in The Thousand and One Nights"."
Bahariya Oasis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: al-Bahriyah Oasis
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A fertile depression in the northeast Libyan Desert about 200 km west of the Nile. Archaeological remains date mainly from the early New Kingdom to the Roman period (c 1550 BC-395 AD).
Balearic Islands: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A group of islands including Majorca (Mallorca), Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, off the east coast of Spain. Various civilizations left their marks on the islands, though the prehistoric talayotic civilization (so-called from its rough stone towers called talayots) seems to have continued without modification for 2600 years. Their position in the Mediterranean laid them open to continuous influence from eastern civilizations, as is found in archaeological finds. Bronze swords, single and double axes, antennae swords, and heads and figures of bulls and other animals are found. Native talayotic pottery was consistent until the Roman occupation. Their most interesting period was the Bronze Age with three important monuments: the Naveta, Talayot, and Taula. The islands were successively ruled by Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Moors, and Spaniards.
Bambata Cave: CATEGORY: site; culture
DEFINITION: A large cave of southwestern Zimbabwe, where excavations have revealed a long sequence of occupation over the past 50,000 years. The site gives its name to a stone industry and pottery type, but they are widely separated periods. There are rock paintings on the cave walls and sheep bones, found in the same archaeological levels as pottery, have been dated to 150 BC. The Bambata industry, dated between the 50th-20th millennia BC, used prepared cores to produce (unretouched) flakes for scrapers and slender unifacial or bifacial lances or spear points. Its distribution extended north to Zambia and south to the Orange Free State and perhaps the Cape. Bambata pottery ware is known only from contexts of the 1st millennium ad in Zimbabwe. It is elaborately decorated with stamped designs.
Banas: CATEGORY: site; culture
DEFINITION: A Chalcolithic culture of Rajasthan, Indian, of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Archaeological evidence indicates that early humans lived along the banks of the Banas River (and its tributaries) about 100,000 years ago. The sites at Ahar, Gilund, and Kalibangan reveal Harappan (Indus) and post-Harappan culture (3rd-2nd millennium BC) with black-and-red ware, often with white painted designs, and other related red wares. Copper and bronze were very common and agriculture was attested. The Ahar occupation lasted c 2200-1500 BC. Pottery fragments at Kalibangan are carbon-dated to 2700 BC.
behavioral processes: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Human activities, including acquisition, manufacture, use, and deposition behavior, that produce tangible archaeological remains.
behaviorist theory: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any theory that suggests that the archaeological record is really a snapshot of ancient behavior.
Belgae: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Any of the inhabitants of Gaul north of the Sequana and Matrona (Seine and Marne) rivers of mixed Celtic and Germanic origin, first described by Julius Caesar in mid-first century BC. Their origins on the continent can be traced back to the La Tène period in the 5th century BC and evidence suggests that the Romans penetrated into those areas about 150 BC. In Caesar's day, they held much of Belgium and parts of northern France and southeast England. The Belgae of Gaul formed a coalition against Caesar after his first Gallic campaign but were subdued the following year (57 BC). During the first half of the 1st century BC, Belgae from the Marne district had crossed to Britain and had formed the kingdom that in 55 BC was ruled by Cassivellaunus. After further Gallic victories (54-51 BC) by Caesar, other settlers took refuge across the Channel, and Belgic culture spread to most of lowland Britain. The three most important Belgic kingdoms, identified by their coinage, were centered at Colchester, St. Albans, and Silchester. Archaeologically, the Belgae can be identified with the bearers of the Aylesford-Swarling culture, otherwise known as Iron Age C. Coinage, the heavy plow, and the potter's wheel were introduced by the Belgae. They lived in large fortified settlements called oppida and amphorae and Italian bronze vessels have been found in their richly furnished tombs.
Belzoni, Giovanni (1778-1823): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Italian excavator of Egyptian sites, who is known as a picturesque and unscrupulous collector of Egyptian antiques as well as a pioneer in Egyptology. Belzoni sought antiquities both for himself and for the British Consul-General on behalf of the British Museum, whose collection he enhanced enormously. His discoveries were numerous, ranging from at Thebes, the colossal sculpture of the head of Ramses II (the Young Memnon"); in the nearby Valley of the Tombs of Kings the tomb of Seti I and the aragonite sarcophagus (for the Sir John Soane's Museum London). Though he managed to take an obelisk from the Nile island of Philae (Jazirat Filah) near Aswan it was taken from him at gunpoint by agents working for French interests. He explored Elephantine (Jazirat Aswan) and the temple of Edfu (Idfu) cleared the entrance to the great temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel was first to penetrate the pyramid of Khafre at Giza and identified the ruins of the city of Berenice on the Red Sea. His methods were unnecessarily destructive by modern archaeological standards. He died in western Africa as he began a journey to Timbuktu. An account of his adventures was published in the year of his death "Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids Temples Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia" (2 vol. 1820)."
Beni Hassan: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Bani Hasan, Beni Hasan
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Middle Kingdom archaeological site, on the eastern bank of the Nile, Egypt, about 150 miles south of Cairo. The site is known for its rock-cut tombs of the 11th- and 12th-dynasty (2125-1795 BC) officials of the 16th Upper Egyptian (Oryx) nome, or province. Some of the 39 tombs are painted with scenes of daily life and important biographical texts. The governors of the nome, whose capital was Menat Khufu, ancestral home of the 4th-dynasty pharaohs, administered the eastern desert. The tomb of one, Khnumhotep II, contains a scene showing Semitic Bedouin merchants in richly colored garments entering Egypt. A rock-cut shrine of Pakhet, known as Speos Artemidos, built by Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III of the 18th dynasty, lies one mile north, in an ancient quarry, with a smaller shrine of Alexander II nearby. There are some small tombs dating back to the 6th Dynasty (2345-2181 BC).
Beringian tradition: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: American Paleo-Arctic
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A culture in existence approximately 12,000 years ago between Siberia and temperate Alaska. The term was used by H. West to cover various Alaskan and Siberian archaeological formations which had developed from the Siberian Upper Paleolithic period, an area now largely submerged under the Bering Strait. Chronologically these formations lie between the middle of the Holocene period (c 35,000-9/10,000 BP), depending on the area. West's categorization includes the Bel'kachi, Diuktai, and Lake Ushki cultures in Siberia, the Denalian culture and American Paleo-Arctic formations in Alaska and the Yukon. Although Alaska is generally thought to be the gateway through which humans entered the New World, the earliest undisputed evidence for people there dates later than 12,000 years ago, well after the climax of the last major glacial advance but while glaciers still covered much of Arctic Canada. Artifacts of 11,500 to 9,000 years ago are known from a number of Alaskan sites, where hunters of caribou (and, in one case, of an extinct form of bison) manufactured blades.
betel nut: CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: The nut or fruit of the Areca Palm, which is chewed in tropical Asia, Melanesia, and New Guinea as a stimulant. It was misnamed by Europeans because it is chewed with the betal leaf; hence, betel palm is the Areca Palm from which the nut is obtained. Archaeological occurrences include Spirit Cave (c 10,000-7,000 BC), eastern Timor (early Holocene), and several sites in the Philippines, where teeth stained by the nut have been found from c 3000 BC.
Bible: CATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: The holy book of the Jewish (Old Testament only) and Christian (Old and New Testaments) faiths. The Old Testament is a collection of writings that was first compiled and preserved as the sacred books of the ancient Hebrew people. As the Bible of the Hebrews and their Jewish descendants down to the present, these books have been perhaps the most decisive single factor in the preservation of the Jews as a cultural entity and Judaism as a religion. The Old Testament and the New Testament -- a body of writings that chronicle the origin and early dissemination of Christianity -- constitute the Bible of the Christians. The Old Testament, written in Hebrew, represents a history of the Jewish people, beginning with the creation of the world. The New Testament records the life and teachings of Christ. Much early archaeological work in the Near East was designed to illustrate or defend the biblical account. Today the Bible is used as a historical resource and recognized as a collection of legends, myths, and stories collected long after events occurred. Archaeology has lent support to some biblical accounts and the Bible has provided information on aspects of society such as marriage customs, inheritance, and land ownership which are difficult to recreate from archaeological evidence.
Binford, Lewis R. (1930- ): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: An influential contemporary Americanist archaeologist, considered by many to be the father of the new archaeology. His books include In Pursuit of the Past" (1983) "Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths" (1981) "An Archaeological Perspective" (1972) and "New Perspectives in Archaeology" (1968)."
bird bones: CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: The identification of bird bones preserved on archaeological sites is a very specialized skill. Interpretation may be carried out in terms of diet and reconstruction of the ancient environment.
Blackwater Draw: CATEGORY: site; culture
DEFINITION: The deeply stratified type site for the Clovis point and Llano complex, located near Clovis, New Mexico, with evidence of occupation from the earliest Paleo-Indian through the Archaic period. Clovis points have been found associated with mammoth bones and Folsom points have been found with bison bones. Also found: Agate Basin points, Cody complex points, a Frederick point, and tools of the Archaic period. Blackwater Draw is also used to evaluate the chronological sequences at other sites. The Blackwater Draw Museum exhibits 12,000-year-old artifacts from the area's archaeological sites.
blow-outs: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: blowout
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: An area in the earth that has become concave or depressed by wind-removal or erosion of sandy or soft, light soils. The topsoil and, perhaps, some of the lower soils, are so removed, especially in arid regions. A blowout resembles the crater of a volcano. Sometimes when earth is removed in this way, archaeological sites are revealed.
Bluefish Caves: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Caves discovered in 1975 in the northern Yukon, Canada, which may be the oldest archaeological site in North America. There are deposits of the late glacial period and some artifacts associated with woolly mammoth, Dall sheep, reindeer, and other vertebrates. The radiocarbon dates of bone fragments range from 25,000-12,000 bp. Evidence of human occupation is from at least 13,000-10,000 bp. There was a wedge-shaped microcore, microblades, and burins similar to those from Siberia of the same time. The lowest levels of 20,000 bp have debitage flakes and large numbers of cut and butchered animal bones.
Bodh Gaya: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in northeast India, famous as the scene of the Buddha's enlightenment. It was there, under the bodhi (Bo) tree, that Gautama Buddha (Prince Siddhartha) became the Buddha. Archaeological remains include an Asockan pillar, erected by Emperor Asoka in 249 BC, and a railing surrounding the tree beneath which the Buddha meditated for six years before his enlightenment was erected in the 1st century BC.
bolas stone: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: bolas; bola; plural bolases
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Weighted balls of stone, bone, ivory, or ceramic that are either grooved or pierced for fastening to rawhide thongs and used to hunt prey. The bolas, still found today among some of the peoples of South America and among the Eskimo, usually consists of two or more globular or pear-shaped stones attached to each other long thongs. They are whirled and thrown at running game, with the thongs wrapping themselves around the limbs of the animal or bird on contact. Bolas stones have been found in many archaeological sites throughout the world, including Africa in Middle and Upper Acheulian strata.
Bonampak: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Bonompak
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A small, Late Classic Period (c 800 AD) Maya site and ceremonial center in Chiapas, a satellite of Yaxchilán located on a tributary of the Usumacinta. The discovery in 1946 of the magnificent murals in the rooms of an otherwise modest structure astounded the archaeological world. From the floors to vault capstones, its stuccoed walls were covered with highly realistic polychrome scenes of a jungle battle, the arraignment of prisoners, and victory ceremonies. These shed an entirely new light on the nature of Maya society, which up until then had been considered peaceful. These murals are the most complete graphic portrayal of Maya life known. Hieroglyphs also occur frequently and the whole collection is seen as a continuous narrative.
bone: CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: The connective tissues of the body, consisting of crystallite minerals and collagen. After death, the proteins slowly decompose and the remaining mineral is subject to solution in acid soil conditions. Bones are preserved on a wide variety of archaeological sites. From early prehistory, the bones, horns, or antlers of animals man hunted or kept provided him with a vital source of raw material for constructing artifacts. There are many types of bone. There are a variety of relative age determination techniques applicable to bone material, including measurements of the depletion of nitrogen (bone dating) and the accumulation of fluorine and uranium.
Borneo: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The largest island of Southeast Asia, first mentioned in Ptolemy's Guide to Geography" of c 150 AD. Joined to mainland Southeast Asia during the low sea-level Pleistocene period archaeological sequences have been found in the Niah Caves of Sarawak and the Madai-Tingkayu region of Sabah. The Niah Great Cave sequence suggests the presence of a population of early Australoids from about 40 000 years ago and evidence from all sites indicate that the ancestors of present-day Borneans arrived around 3000 BC possibly from the Philippines. Though traces of Homo erectus from 2 million years ago were found on neighboring Java so far no evidence has been found of Homo erectus in Borneo. Roman trade beads and Indo-Javanese artifacts give evidence of a flourishing civilization dating to the 2nd or 3rd century BC. A Sanskrit inscription dated to c 400 AD is the earliest historical document on the island. Three rough foundation stones with an inscription recording a gift to a Brahman priest date from the early 5th century AD found at Kutai provide evidence of a Hindu kingdom. The first recorded European visitor was Franciscan friar Odoric of Pordenone who visited on his way from India to China in 1330."
bottom-up strategy: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A strategy of archaeological survey in which the survey is begun at an established site and work is done outward from it, attempting to find related sites.
Bouärd, Michel de (1909-?): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: A French archaeologist who worked in medieval studies, especially on earthworks as fortifications. Bouärd also investigated ceramics and other aspects of medieval material culture and made advances in archaeological laboratory research.
Boucher (de Crèvecoeur) de Perthes, Jacques (1788-1868): SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Boucher de Perthes
CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: French archaeologist and writer who was the first to develop the idea that prehistory could be measured on the basis of periods of geological time. In 1837, in the Somme Valley, he discovered flint hand axes and other stone tools along with the bones of extinct mammals in deposits of the Pleistocene Epoch (or Ice Age, ending about 10,000 years ago). Boucher de Perthes was the first to draw attention to the Stone Age's revolutionary significance, because at the time, 4004 BC was still believed to be the year of the creation. His claims that these objects were the tools of ancient man and that they occurred in association with the bones of extinct animals were ridiculed. In 1859, Boucher de Perthes's conclusions were finally upheld by a group of eminent British scientists, including Charles Lyell, Hugh Falconer, John Preswich, and John Evans, who visited the excavated sites. His archaeological writings include De la Création: essai sur l'origine et la progression des êtres" (1838-41) and "Antiquités Celtiques et Antédiluviennes" (1847-64)."
bowsing: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: bosing
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique used to locate features beneath the surface, such a buried chambers or ditches, by thumping the ground and sensing the differences between compacted and undisturbed earth. A resulting resonant sound may indicate a buried chamber or pit. It is an unsophisticated but effective method of searching for earthworks at archaeological sites, especially in chalk subsoil. Wooden mallets or lead-filled tools are examples of implements used. The verb 'bose' or 'bowse' means to test the ground for the presence of buried structures by noting the sound of percussion from a weighted striker.
bridging argument: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: In middle-range research, any logical statements linking the static archaeological record to the past dynamics that produced it. Contemporary observations, especially through ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology, are generally used to define these links.
Brno: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The traditional capital of Moravia in the southeastern Czech Republic, which was inhabited in prehistoric times according to archaeological evidence. Important sites surround and are in the town, including a burial covered in red ochre, mammoth tusks, and ornaments, which has proven to be one of the earliest Upper Palaeolithic burials known. Traces of Neanderthal man were found in a cave called Svéduv stul (Swedish Table") and a camping ground of the Cro-Magnon mammoth hunters (30 000 BC) was discovered at Dolní Vestonice 20 miles (30 km) south. There are also traces of Celts and other tribes and many Slav settlements from the 5th and 6th centuries."
Burrup Peninsula: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A rich archaeological area on the northwest coast of Western Australia with 10,000+ engravings on rocks, including geometric figures of humans and animals. Artifacts and features are quarries, shell middens, standing stones, and dry-stone walls and terraces. The site dates range from 6700-200 bp.
Córdoba: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in southern Spain that was probably Carthaginian in origin and was occupied by the Romans in 152 BC. It declined under the rule of the Visigoths from the 6th to the early 8th century AD. In 711 Córdoba was captured and largely destroyed by the Muslims. Its recovered under 'Abd ar-Rahman I, a member of the Umayyad family, who made Córdoba his capital in 756. 'Abd ar-Rahman I founded the Great Mosque of Córdoba, which was later enlarged and completed about 976. The city quickly rose to become one of the finest in Europe, rivaled only by Baghdad and Constantinople. In the 10th century, one of the rulers of Cordoba built a pleasure-city outside its walls known as Medina al Zahara; this is now an archaeological site.
Cachi: CATEGORY: site; culture
DEFINITION: Archaeological complex dating from 3000-1750 BC in the Ayacucho valley of Peru. It showed the first evidence of an economic system in which products of lower-elevation villages and camps (corn, beans, squash, gourd, chile, coca) were exchanged for potatoes, quinoa, and camelids of the seasonally nomadic herders of the higher elevations.
Caerleon: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Isca
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A town and archaeological site in Wales in which the Romans established a legionary fortress dating to 74-75 AD when the conquest of the Silures of Wales began. The foundation of the fortress is set on a terrace along the Usk and it is one of three major legionary fortresses -- the other two being at Chester and York. Originally built of timber and earth, it had been largely rebuilt in stone (253-255) before the Roman garrison left during the abandonment of the province. Evidence has been found for centurion houses, workshops, barracks, stores, ovens, hospital, baths, and latrines. There is also an amphitheater, two bath buildings, and extensive cemeteries in an associated settlement. The fortress was occupied, probably by a nonmilitary population, until the 370s. Caerleon, traditionally a seat of the legendary King Arthur, was a Welsh princely capital until the Norman Conquest (1066).
Camden, William (1551-1623): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: A renowned British antiquary who was among the first to describe antiquities found in Britain. His book Britannia" (1586) described the archaeological past of all the British Isles to Norman times and was the first comprehensive topographical survey of England."
Canterbury: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Durovernum Cantiacorum
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site on the River Stour in southeast England occupied since pre-Roman times. Lying at the intersection of important land routes, Canterbury already had a sizable Belgic settlement before the arrival of the Romans in 43 AD. The town was refounded soon after the invasion as Durovernum, the tribal capital of the Cantiaci, around 49 AD. Traces have been found of a theater (c 210-220), a forum, houses, streets, and a stone wall with earth bank added as fortification c 270-290. There is some evidence of Christian occupation from the 4th century, but the settlement declined sharply after 400, probably following the withdrawal of Roman forces. Archaeological investigations in Canterbury have contributed to an understanding of the secular occupation in Roman towns after the imperial withdrawal from Britain. Excavations have also been carried out on a group of churches which may date to the late 6th or 7th century: St. Augustine's Abbey, St. Martins's, and St. Pancras. Canterbury was an important medieval town and from that time there is a medieval cathedral, an impressive circuit of town walls, a large 12th-century castle, and some of the best preserved timber-framed buildings in England.
Cape Krusenstern: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The site of a national monument on the coast of the Chukchi Sea with a horizontal stratigraphy covering the whole of north Alaskan prehistory. Located on 114 ridges along ancient beach lines, the monument's remarkable archaeological sites illustrate the cultural evolution of the Arctic people, dating back some 4,000 years and continuing to modern Eskimos. There are campsites of 10 successive cultures, beginning with the Denbigh Flint Complex, followed by the Old Whaling culture, then by the Eskimo cultures known as Trails Creek-Chloris, Chloris, Norton, Near Ipiutak, Ipiutak, Birnirk, Western Thule, and late prehistoric. On the terrace behind the beaches were two more phases (Palisades I and II) which go back to c 8000 BC. The stratigraphy is visible as a sequence of strips, roughly parallel to the shoreline, with the oldest, Denbigh, being furthest from the present-day shoreline. This horizontal sequence, in combination with the vertical stratigraphy of Onion Portage, forms the most reliable chronological framework in Western Arctic prehistory.
carbon-14: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: radiocarbon, C14
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A naturally occurring radioactive isotope of carbon with a half-life of 5,730-year (+/- 40 years) years and a mass number of 14, commonly used in radiocarbon dating archaeological materials and in demonstrating the metabolic path of carbon in photosynthesis. Its known rate of decay is the basis of radiocarbon dating. Willard Libby discovered natural carbon-14. Libby showed the essential uniformity of carbon-14 in living material and went on to measure the radiocarbon level in organic samples dated historically -- materials as old as 5,000 years from sources such as Egyptian tombs. Libby's conclusion, with allowance for radioactive decay, was that over the past 5,000 years the carbon-14 level in living materials has remained constant within 5 percent precision of measurement. His work made this dating method available to scientists.
carbon-14 dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: radiocarbon dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The occurrence of natural radioactive carbon in the atmosphere allows archaeologists the ability to date organic materials as old as 50,000 years. Carbon-14 is continuously produced in the atmosphere and decays with a half-life of 5,730-year (+/- 40 years). Unlike most isotopic dating methods, the carbon-14 dating technique relies on the progressive decay or disappearance of the radioactive parent with time. This is now a common method for estimating the age of a carbonaceous archaeological artifacts. The radioactivity of an artifact's carbon-14 content determines how long ago the specimen was separated from equilibrium with the atmosphere-plant-animal cycle. The method is based on the principle that all plants and animals, while they are alive, take in small amounts of carbon-14 and when they die, the intake ends. By measuring the loss rate of the carbon 14, the age of the object can be established. Measurement of the carbon-14 activity in a cypress beam in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Snefru, for example, established the date of the tomb as c 2600 BC.
Carolingian: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A term referring to the time and place of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who called himself the king of the Franks and Lombards" from 768-814 AD. In an archaeological and architectural sense Carolingian describes the period c 750-900 AD. The Carolingian kingdom of Italy occupied the northern and central peninsula down to Rome except for Venice and Benevento. The cultural revival of the Carolingian period stimulated by Charlemagne was a renovation and renaissance of the arts and education."
carrying capacity: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The maximum population of a species that can be supported by a particular habitat or area with the food potentially available to it from the resources of the area, including the most unfavorable period of the year. The carrying capacity is different for each species within a habitat because of the species' particular requirements for food, shelter, and social contact and because of competition with other species that have similar requirements. Studies of both human and animal groups suggest that few populations reach such a theoretical maximum level, but adjust themselves to a size which allows a margin for fluctuations in the actual food production in the area. In archaeological terms, carrying capacity is the size and density of ancient populations that a given site or region could have supported under a specified subsistence technology.
Carter, Howard (1874-1939): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British archaeologist who made one of the richest and most celebrated contributions to Egyptology: the discovery in 1922 of the largely intact tomb of King Tutankhamen. At 17, Carter joined a British-sponsored archaeological survey of Egypt. He received his training as an excavator and epigrapher from some of the most important Egyptologists of the late nineteenth century, including Gaston Maspero and Flinders Petrie, with whom he worked at el-Amarna in 1892. He made drawings of the sculptures and inscriptions at the temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Thebes and then served as inspector-general of the Egyptian antiquities department. While supervising excavations in the Valley of the Kings in 1902, he discovered the tombs of Hatshepsut and Thutmose IV. Around 1907 he began his association with the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, a collector of antiquities who asked Carter to supervise excavations in the valley. On November 4, 1922, Carter found the first sign of Tutankhamen's tomb, and three days later he reached its sealed entrance. For the next 10 years Carter supervised the removal of its contents, most of which now in the Cairo Museum. His patient and long unrewarded study of the Valley of the Kings brought to light the only unrobbed Egyptian pharaoh's tomb and the richest treasure ever to be discovered.
Carthage: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: (adj Carthaginian, Punic) Carthago; Kart-Hadasht
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A great city of antiquity founded, according to tradition, on the north coast of Africa by the Phoenicians of Tyre in 814 BC and now a suburb of Tunis. However, Phoenician occupation on the site is archaeologically attested from about a century later. The Aeneid tells of the city's founding by the Tyrian princess Dido, who fled from her brother Pygmalion (a king of Tyre). Until around 500 BC Carthage was one of three great mercantile powers in the central Mediterranean, together with the Etruscans and Western Greeks. Much of Carthage's revenue came from its exploitation of the silver mines of North Africa and southern Spain, begun as early as 800 BC, and from its role as a middleman in trade. Carthage was for many years in conflict with the Greeks, especially in Sicily. Carthage lost both Sicily and Sardinia to Rome in 241 BC at the close of the First Punic War. From an enlarged domain in southern Spain, the Carthaginian general Hannibal in 218 BC led his army across the Alps to victories in Italy. When Hannibal returned to Africa, he was defeated at Zama in 202 BC. Though humiliated, Carthage survived until it was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC, after having fought the three Punic Wars of the 3rd and 2nd centuries. Carthage was then reconstructed as a Roman city by Julius Caesar and Octavian. The Roman city prospered by shipping grain and olive oil to Italy. Carthage replaced Utica as the capital of the African province and it became the second largest city in the western part of the empire, after Rome itself. The Phoenician/Punic remains include the citadel, Byrsa, the Sanctuary of Tanit, and two manmade harbors (all pre-146 BC); the Roman remains are the Antonine Baths, odeum, theater, circus, amphitheater, aqueduct, and areas of streets and houses. Also on the Byrsa site stood an open-air portico, from which the finest Roman sculptures at Carthage have survived. The standard of living in Carthage was probably far below that of the larger cities of the classical world. In Roman times, beds, cushions, and mattresses were luxuries. The Punic language and its distinctive alphabet remained in use long after the city's destruction. After the breakup of the Roman empire, the Vandals took Carthage in 439 and stayed in control until the Byzantine invasion in 533. Carthage was the capital of the Byzantine empire in Africa until the Arab takeover of 698.
casual find: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A nonscientific discovery of an archaeological object, as by an explorer or hunter.
catalog: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: catalogue
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: An inventory of archaeological data in which an artifact is labeled with a reference number and described in detail. The catalog number is the unique number assigned to each individual item -- or group of items -- in an archaeological collection.
catalog number: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: The unique number assigned to each individual item (or group of items) in an archaeological collection
catalog, catalogue: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An inventory of archaeological data in which an artifact is labeled with a reference number and described in detail. The catalog number is the unique number assigned to each individual item -- or group of items -- in an archaeological collection.
catchment: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: catchment area
CATEGORY: term; feature
DEFINITION: The resource area of an archaeological site; the geographical area in which the inhabitants of a village or camp obtain resources.
catena: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A sequence of soils formed by the same parent material but from different landscape positions have taken on differing characteristics. Seeing these difference may assist interpretation of archaeological sites.
cause: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: In the archaeological sense, any event that forces people to make decisions about how to deal with a new situation.
Celts: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: adj Celtic; Gaels; Goidels; Galatians; Gauls
CATEGORY: culture; language
DEFINITION: An important people of central and western Europe. Greek and Roman writers recorded them as having lived in the final centuries BC and their existence is first attested c 500 BC, but they were around long before that. They were a fierce, warrior race distinguished by three factors: their language, their beliefs, and their material culture. They are known to have invaded Italy and sacked Rome itself in the early 4th century bc, while in the following century groups of Celts invaded Greece, sacking Delphi, and others invaded Anatolia. Their language belonged to the Indo-European family and divided into two branches at an early date (2nd-3rd millennium BC), respectively represented by the Welsh and Irish Gaelic languages. Original homelands appear to have been on the western and central mainland of Europe: France, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, and Switzerland. By mid-1st millennium BC, they also lived in Iberia (Spain and Portugal), Britain, Ireland, Low Countries south of the Rhine delta, and Italy north of River Po. In Britain, they were defeated by the Romans in AD 43. Archaeologically, in central Europe there were aristocratic burials of the Hallstatt culture, often containing wagons or horses. Archaeological cultures do not necessarily coincide with ethnic or linguistic groups and it is preferable to use the cultural terms Hallstatt and La Tene when describing archaeological remains.
ceramic analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any of various techniques used to study artifacts made from fired clay to obtain archaeological data. Color is objectively described by reference to the Munsell soil color charts. Examination under the microscope may reveal the technique of manufacture and allow the identification of mineral grains in the tempering, which will identify the area of manufacture. Refiring experiments often show how the original baking was done.
Cerro de las Mesas: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in southern Veracruz, Mexico, in the plains of the Papaloápan River that is a hybrid site of Pre-Classic and Classic periods. Dozens of earthen mounds are scattered over the surface in a seemingly haphazard manner, and the archaeological sequence is long and complex. The site reached its apogee in the Early Classic, when the stone monuments for which it is best known were carved. Most important are a number of stelae, some of which are carved in a low-relief style recalling Late Formative Tres Zapotes, early lowland Maya, and Cotzumalhuapa. Cerro de las Mesas pottery, deposited in rich burial offerings of the Early Classic, is much like that of Teotihuacan, with slab-legged tripods. Potters made large, hollow, handmade figures of the gods and the most spectacular discovery on the site was a cache of 782 jade objects, many of Olmec workmanship. Cerro de las Mesas is famous for Remojadas-style pottery figurines, found in great quantity as burial goods. Because the Classic occupation contains abundant Teotihuacan materials and two Maya Long Count dates (ad 468 and ad 533), it is usually interpreted as a redistribution point for materials from both Mexico and the Maya lowlands.
Ch'u: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Ch'u state; Chu
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: One of the most important independent states of south-central China between 770-221 BC, during the second half of the Chou Dynasty. It emerged in the fertile Yangtze River Valley just outside the Chinese culture of the time. It was a great military threat other Chinese states as the state was barbarian in origin. Ch'u began to expand rapidly into China proper, conquering much of present-day Honan province, and its people soon began to acquire Chinese speech and customs. From the 8th century until its destruction by Qin in the 3rd century bc Chu was the largest and most powerful of the Eastern Zhou states. Artifacts include bronze casting of fine inlaid bronzes, weapons, ritual vessels, bells, and drums, and mirrors and the state was known also for lacquer and silk. Lacquered objects range from containers to wooden effigies, musical instruments, coffins, and other wooden tomb furniture. Sites near Tung-t'ing (Yungmeng) Lake, and in Xiasi and Xinyang, but Ch'u remains are most densely concentrated at Jiangling in southern Hubei and Changsha in northern Hunana. The Ch'u capital was at Jiangling from 689-278 BC, when the city fell to Qin. The Ch'u court retreated to the Huai valley and stayed there until its final overthrow in 221 BC. Archaeological and historical sources show it to have been a distinctive, highly civilized cultural and political entity.
Champollion, Jean-François (1778-1867): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: French historian and linguist who founded scientific Egyptology and played a major role in the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics by deciphering the Rosetta Stone. A masterful linguist, Champollion started publishing papers on the hieroglyphic and hieratic elements of the Rosetta Stone in 1821-1822, and he went on to establish an entire list of hieroglyphic signs and their Greek equivalents. He was first to recognize that some of the signs were alphabetic, some syllabic, and some determinative (standing for a whole idea or object previously expressed). His brilliant discoveries met with great opposition, however. He became curator of the Egyptian collection at the Louvre, conducted an archaeological expedition to Egypt, and received the chair of Egyptian antiquities, created specially for him, at the Collège de France. He also published an Egyptian grammar and dictionary, as well as other works about Egypt.
charcoal identification: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method of studying charcoal, frequently found in archaeological contexts, to identify the type of tree from which it came. Charcoal is partly burned ('charred') wood, consisting mostly of carbon, sometimes found in situ as burned timbers of buildings and other structures or in hearths, but more frequently widely disseminated through the deposits. Its transverse, radial, and tangential sections are examined, as each type of wood has a characteristic structure. The main value of charcoal identification will be for showing the use made of different resources by ancient man. Charcoal survives because carbon cannot be utilized by organism decomposition.
charred, charring: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Converted to charcoal or carbon usually by heat, organic materials may be preserved. Partial burning reduces the materials to a carbon-rich residue. In the case of wood, this residue is charcoal. Many organic materials may not retain their structure and become an amorphous residue. Charred remains are preserved on archaeological sites because carbon is relatively inert in the soil and the microorganisms which would normally break down organic material are unable to make use of this form of carbon. Charred remains are a particularly good material for radiocarbon dating.
Cheng-chou: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Cheng Chou, Chengxian
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The site of the Shang dynasty capital from 1500-1200 BC, in Honan province, China on the Yellow River. Following villages of the Yang Shao and Lung Shan cultures, four phases of Shang occupation have been traced. Cemeteries of pit graves have been found and a rectangular wall enclosed an area divided into different quarters. Outside this city, in addition to remains of large public buildings, a complex of small settlements has been discovered. Since 1950 archaeological finds have shown that there were Neolithic settlements in the area. The site remained occupied after the Shang dynasty moved its capital again; Chou (post-1050 BC) tombs have also been discovered. It is thought that in the Western Chou period (1111-771 BC) it became the fief of a family named Kuan. In 605 AD it was first called Cheng-chu.
chi-square test: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A statistical test that is used to measure the significant differences between sets of observed values and those which would be expected and determine whether the deviation from what was expected is more than random chance would suggest. It can be used for many different archaeological observations, such as examining the existence of an association between settlement distribution and distinct ecological zones in a region, or between different fabrics and decorative styles in pottery production. From the data, the number expected in each zone on a random distribution can be calculated by proportion, and the deviation between expectation and observation measured. It is then possible to assess whether the observed data could have arisen by chance, or whether some other factor is affecting it. Karl Pearson developed the test.
Chibcha: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Muisca
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A South American people who lived in the high valleys around the modern cities of Bogota and Tunja in Colombia. They had a population of more than 500,000 and were more centralized politically than any other South American people outside the Inca empire. Each of the many small districts had its own chief and they belonged to several lesser states that in turn were allied to two major states, each headed by a hereditary ruler. The arrival of the Spanish cut short the Chibchas' development and their political structure was crushed in the 16th century. Their language was no longer spoken by the 18th century. Archaeological evidence is of a scattered rural population who cultivated highland crops and traded salt and emeralds for cotton, gold, and luxury goods. Gold, copper and tumbaga (a copper-gold alloy) were also worked in a variety of techniques. The ceremonial coating of the chief's body with gold leaf may well by the origin of the El Dorado legend. Chibcha's ceremonial practice centered around sun worship and included human sacrifice.
Chiflet, Jean-Jacques (1588-1673): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Philip IV's (Spain) surgeon who was entrusted with studying and reporting on objects found in the tomb of Childeric I (AD 481/482), Clovis's father, discovered at Tournai in 1653. Anastasis Childerici I" printed in 1655 may be regarded as the earliest scientific archaeological publication."
Childe, Vere Gordon (1892-1957): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Australian-born British historian whose study of European prehistory in the 2nd and 3rd millennia BC brought his development of the diffusionist theory which was to explain the relationship between Europe and the Middle East. Childe introduced the concept of the archaeological culture. The Diffusionist view interpreted all major developments in prehistoric Europe in terms of the spread of either people or ideas from the Near East. Childe was professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Edinburgh and then director of the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. His many publications include The Dawn of European Civilization (1925; 6th ed., 1957), The Danube in Prehistory (1929), The Bronze Age (1930), Man Makes Himself (1936), What Happened in History (1942), and Society and Knowledge (1956).
chipping-floor: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A workshop area used for the manufacture or maintenance of flint or stone tools, recognized archaeologically by a spread of working waste, broken or part-made implements, and discarded raw material.
Chou: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Chou Dynasty, Zhou
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The dynasty that ruled ancient China from 1122-256/255 BC), establishing the political and cultural characteristics that would be identified with China for the next 2,000 years. Some date the dynasty to 1027-1050 BC. The Chou coexisted with the Shang for many years, living just west of the Shang territory in what is now Shensi province. At various times they were a friendly tributary state to the Shang, alternatively warring with them. The Chou overthrew that of Shang in 1027 BC and was itself destroyed by the Ch'in in 256. Its capital in the Western Chou period was at Tsung Chou in Shensi, moving to Loyang in Honan in 771, to begin the Eastern Chou period. The archaeological evidence comes mainly from the excavation of tombs. Iron came into use c 500 BC, both forged and cast. Bronze remained the material for weapons and the Chou bronzes are the most famous of their artworks. The sword, crossbow, and use of roof tiles were other technological innovations of the dynasty.
chromatography: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique of separating colored substances and analyzing their chemical structure by chromotographic adsorption. Differences in the rate of movement along a liquid or solid column are noted and used for the identification of organic substances. Archaeologically this can be useful for identifying sources, as for amber. There are several methods of chromatography, but particularly used in archaeology are paper and gas. In the former, a solution of the substance to be examined is placed at the end of a piece of filter paper; the end is then dipped into a solvent which moves the constituents of the sample along the paper by capillary action. Different substances reach different points on the filter paper and, by comparison with reference substances, can be identified. Gas chromatography is done by introducing the mixture into a column of material. The mixture is carried through by gases and measurements of the gas coming through over time are made by a gas detector. The use of gas chromatography in the study of amber has shown that different sources produce different chromatograms.
Cimmerians: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Thraco-Cimmerian
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An ancient nomadic people of the Russian steppes, north of the Caucasus and Sea of Azov, driven out by the Scythians into Anatolia toward the end of the 8th century BC. As they retreated, they destroyed Phrygia, Lydia, and the Greek cities on the coast and then caused havoc in Anatolia. Their decline soon began, and their final defeat may be dated c 637 or 626, when they were routed by Alyattes of Lydia. Their relatives, the Thracians, retreated similarly into the Balkans. The Cimmerian origin is uncertain, but they may have been responsible for Catacomb and Kuban cultures, c 1700 BC onwards. The Cimmerians' destruction across southwestern Asia has been detected archaeologically at many sites. Our knowledge of them has come from the writings of Herodotus and the Assyrian records.
Cividale: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site, Cividale del Friuli, in northeast Italy with fine surviving examples of Lombardic architecture from the 8th century. There is an octagonal baptistery, the chapel (Tempietto) of a nunnery, and the altar of the church of S. Martino. The national archaeological museum contains Gothic and Lombard antiquities.
Clarke, David Leonard (1937-1976): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British archaeologist; founder of analytical archaeology, who died tragically young after making notable contributions concerning the use of computers in archaeology, demonstrated by his study of beakers, and to a reassessment of archaeological methodology. His book Analytical Archaeology" published in 1968 emphasized the need for an explicit theory and a more rigorous methodology in archaeology."
classification: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The ordering of archaeological data that share certain attributes or characteristics into groups and classes; the divisions arrived at by such a process. Classification is the first step in the analysis of archaeological data -- when particles or objects are sorted or categorized by established criteria, such as size, function, material, or color.
clast: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: clastic (adj)
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: An individual grain of a rock that becomes part of a sediment. Archaeological debris often consists of rocks or grains resulting from the breakdown of larger rocks. A clastic deposit is made up of fragments of preexisting rock.
clay tablet: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: The main writing material used by the scribes of early civilizations. Signs were impressed or inscribed on the soft clay, which was then dried in the sun. The ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hittites wrote on tablets made from water-cleaned clay. A common form was a thin quadrilateral tile about five inches long which, while still wet, was inscribed by a stylus with cuneiform characters. By writing on the surface in small characters, a scribe could copy a substantial text on a single tablet. For longer texts, several tablets were used and then linked by numbers or catchwords. Book production on clay tablets probably continued for 2,000 years in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Either dried in the sun or baked in a kiln, clay tablets were almost indestructible. The latter process was used for texts of special value, legal codes, royal annals, and epics to ensure greater preservation. Buried for thousands of years in the mounds of forgotten cities, they have been removed intact or almost so in modern archaeological excavations. The number of clay tablets recovered is nearly half a million, but there are constantly new finds. The largest surviving category consists of private commercial documents and government archives. When the Aramaic language and alphabet arose in the 6th century BC, the clay tablet book declined because clay was less suited than papyrus to the Aramaic characters.
clearing excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any excavation designed primarily to reveal the horizontal and, by inference, functional dimensions of an archaeological site -- such as the extent, distribution, and patterning of buried data.
close: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: To stop digging an archaeological unit; to complete the excavation of an archaeological unit.
closed site: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: An archaeological site located within a pyramid, chambered tomb, barrow (burial mound), sealed cave, or rock shelter.
cognitive archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: structural archaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of past mental processes, ideological systems, and thought patterns from the archaeological record -- often through the symbols left behind on material remains.
cognitive concept of culture: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A model of culture consisting of the set of meanings (categories and relationships) people construct for making sense of their lives. It is used in archaeological interpretation for both synchronic and diachronic descriptions of cultural meaning.
collecting: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any nonscientific removal of archaeological materials from a site by non-residents. Although collectors were important to the origins of archaeology, they are now a major cause of the destruction of the world's cultural resources.
Colonial Williamsburg: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A restoration of a large section of the early colonial area, which was first settled in 1633 as Middle Plantation. The restoration was begun in 1926 and the more than 3,000 acres of land have nearly 150 major buildings restored or reconstructed. The exhibition buildings, which include the Capitol and Governor's Palace, are furnished as they were in the 18th century, and the entire area is landscaped as it was in colonial times. This living history museum has been reconstructed partly with the aid of archaeological research.
Colt Hoare, Sir Richard (1758-1838): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British antiquary who established the techniques of archaeological excavation in Britain. He excavated a large number of barrows (mostly on Salisbury Plain), classified and published his findings. He also recorded many other monuments of the area. However, at the time there was no means of dating the material he found.
Combe-Grenal: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Combe Grenal
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A rock shelter site on the Dordogne River in southwest France, near the town of Domme. There are 64 archaeological levels, including nine bottom levels of the Acheulian industry dating from the end of the Riss glaciation, followed by a series of 55 Mousterian levels. Occupation ended just before the end of the Mousterian period, and there is a radiocarbon date of just over 37,000 BC from Level 12, near the top of the deposit. The site has the largest number of cultural levels of any Palaeolithic site known to date. The 55 Mousterian levels have formed the basis for the analysis of the Mousterian into five main types. A burial pit has been recognized in the Mousterian levels with some human bones. The site has fauna and pollen evidence from all levels.
comparative collection: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Collections of identified bones or other artifacts used for comparison with archaeologically recovered remains.
compilation: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A set of interrelated propositions (data) describing material remains, usually through symbolic representation, that facilitates the study of ancient people. Examples are field notebooks, artifact catalogues, archaeological databases.
complex: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cultural complex
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A group of artifacts and traits that regularly appear together in two or more sites within a restricted area over a period of time and which are presumed to represent an archaeological culture. A complex could be a characteristic tool or type of pottery or it could be a pattern of buildings that occur together. A complex is a chronological subdivision of different artifact types and implies a culture, whereas an assemblage is merely a collection of contemporaneous specimens.
computer simulation: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: computer simulation studies
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Reconstruction of the past based on the production of computerized models. The computer model describes ancient conditions and variables and those are used to generate a sequence of events that are compared against the known archaeological record. The computer imitates the dynamic behavior of an explicit model and helps scientists examine how such systems respond to changing conditions and also to refine and test hypotheses about the past. In an example study of hunter-gatherers, the effect of various changes in the natural environment on such factors as the population settlement pattern or subsistence could be monitored; or the growth of a settlement system could be studied under different conditions of population, economy, technological, or environmental change. The relationships between the various elements in the cultural system must be specified, and then any variety of actual conditions can be simulated. The data used could be derived from observations and the simulation used to examine the effect of different assumptions; the results could then be compared to the observed data to test their validity.
concretion: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A mass of mineral matter found generally in rock of a composition different from its own and produced by deposition from aqueous solution in the rock. It is usually formed around a nucleus that may consist of archaeological debris. Concretions form under certain conditions and the study of their characteristics may aid reconstruction of the environmental conditions of the time.
conjunctive approach: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A methodological alternative to traditional normative archaeology, developed by Walter W. Taylor in 1948. In it, the full range of a culture system is to be taken into consideration in explanatory models, with explicit connection of archaeological objects within their cultural contexts. Ancient behavior is reconstructed by defining functional sets of archaeological data.
conservation archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cultural resource management
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A subfield of archaeology which focuses on the preservation of archaeological resources and explicitly recognizes archaeological sites as nonrenewable resources. This branch of archaeology seeking to preserve the archaeological record from destruction, by protective legislation, education, and efforts such as the Archaeological Conservancy.
constituent analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any technique used to reveal the composition of artifacts and other archaeological materials by examining their constituent parts. This type of analysis is useful in determining raw material sources for the reconstruction of ancient exchange systems.
construct: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The most basic level of archaeological theory, referring to concepts through which time, space, form, and function are perceived and interpreted.
contamination: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Materials that are not part of a natural archaeological deposit or assemblage but which have intruded or altered the deposit or assemblage. The term is often applied to samples taken for radiocarbon dating which have been affected by their environment, for example by humus, which also contains carbon, and may be much younger than the sample, thus resulting in an inaccurate age determination.
contour plan: CATEGORY: term; geography
DEFINITION: A plan showing the surface relief of an archaeological site at a given period, as inferred from a series of recorded elevations.
contract archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: Archaeological work conducted under the direction and regulations of governments or other agencies, especially under the aegis of federal or state legislation, and often in advance of highway construction or urban development. Archaeologists are contracted to undertake research to protect cultural resources.
Cook Islands: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An extensive island group in the central Pacific whose traditions and linguistic patterns indicate that they were initially settled by Polynesians from Tonga and Samoa, some of whom later colonized New Zealand. Remains show a highly organized society by about 1100 AD, though the area was probably settled 1500 years ago. Archaeological excavations have been undertaken on Rarotonga, Aitutaki, and Penrhyn, and many islands of the group have well-preserved examples of Polynesian temples (Marae).
cover sand: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: coversand, blow sand
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A deposit or sediment of wind-blown sand which is formed by the carrying of sand grains from glacial outwash deposits or from the shore by wind gusts. In areas where this occurs, the deposits may wipe out evidence of previous occupation -- but they may also preserve artifact associations if the deposition is thick and rapid. If it happens slowly, the archaeological material may eventually end up several kilometers from its source.
Crawford, O.G.S. (1886-1957): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British archaeologist who made many contributions to the development of the field -- including being the first exponent of the mapping of distributions, of air photography, of field archaeology, of the national mapping of antiquities, and of enlightening the public. He was the editor of the popular journal Antiquity for its first 31 years and Archaeological Officer of the Ordnance Survey, where he was largely responsible for the high standard of mapping of archaeological sites in Britain.
Cro-Magnon: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Cromagnon
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A population of anatomically modern Homo sapiens dating from the Upper Paleolithic Period (c 35,000-10,000 years ago), first found in 1868 in a shallow cave at Cro-Magnon in the Dordogne region of southern France. French geologist Louis Lartet uncovered five archaeological layers and the race of prehistoric humans revealed by this find was called Cro-Magnon and has since been considered, along with Neanderthals, to be representative of prehistoric humans at that time. It was also the first discovery of remains of Homo sapiens in a deposit containing Upper Palaeolithic tools. The skeletons had been carefully buried, covered with red ochre, and necklaces laid beside them. They were the earliest known modern humans in Europe, who were characterized by a long skull and high forehead, a tall erect stature, and the use of blade technology and bone tools. They were associated with the Aurignacian culture, which produced the earliest European art. Unlike Neanderthal man, the remains are hardly different from modern man.
cromlech: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: dolmen
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A term used in Wales for any Megalithic tomb. In Britain, the term refers to a circle of upright stone of prehistoric times. The enclosure was formed by menhirs, huge stones planted in the ground in a circle or semicircle. These enclosures were consecrated places used as burial grounds. The former usage is now obsolete in archaeological literature but has persisted in Welsh folk usage.
crop mark: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cropmark
CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: Variations in the color or growth of surface vegetation that indicate the outline of buried archaeological features, such as walls, pits, or buildings; visible by aerial observation or photography. These indications are revealed by the abnormal growth of overlying crops. Buried archaeological features such as walls stunt crop growth; ditches increase crop growth. Buried pits and ditches may retain moisture better than the surrounding subsoil and during a dry spell plant growth is often enhanced over such features.
cross-bed: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A sedimentary structure with fine strata (laminae) within a bed which are inclined relative to the bounding beds. Orientation of cross-bedding can be used to reconstruct past depositional environments that may have related archaeological deposits.
cross-dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cross dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A correlation dating technique that can yield a relative or absolute age or chronology. The basis of cross-dating is the occurrence of finds in association. The assumption is that a particular type of artifact, for example a type of sword, when found in an undated context will bear a similar date to one found in a dated context, thus enabling the whole of the undated context to be given a chronological value. The method is based on the assumption that typologies evolved at the same rate and in the same way over a wide area or alternatively on assumptions of diffusion. Many of the chronologies constructed before the advent of chronometric dating techniques were based on cross-dating. New techniques such as radiocarbon dating showed some of the links established by cross-dating to be invalid, so the method has become somewhat discredited. However, its use is still helpful where recognizable products of dateable manufacture are found in undated contexts with no possibility of using a chronometric dating technique. So in the absence of geochronology, two cultural groups can only be proved contemporary by the discovery of links between them. If in culture A an object produced by culture B is found, A must be contemporary with, or later than, B. The term cross-dating ought strictly to be used only when an object of culture A is also found in proved association with culture B, when overlap of at least part of the time span of each is proved. Items having an established date, such as dated coins or buildings, or ceramics of known manufacture are most often used. By itself, a cross-dated chronology does not give absolute dates, but it may be calibrated by reference to other dating methods. A type of cross-dating has always been used in geology and stratigraphical sequences are often correlated by the assemblages of fossils they contain; this is known as biostratigraphy. The archaeological versions of cross-dating may have been developed directly out of the geological method and may have been based on a false analogy between biological fossils and archaeological artifacts.
cultural disturbance process: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any human behavior that modifies artifacts in their archaeological context, e.g. digging canas, hearths, houses, etc.
cultural formation process: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The deliberate and accidental activities of humans that affect how archaeological materials are buried.
cultural processual approach: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cultural process
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A deductive approach to archaeological research that is designed to study the changes and interactions in cultural systems and the processes by which human cultures change throughout time. A cultural process is the cumulative cause-and-effect of the mechanisms and interactions within a culture that produce stability and/or change. The delineation of cultural process is one of the goals of archaeological research. Processual archaeologists use both descriptive and explanatory models based on functional, ecological, or multilinear cultural evolutionary concepts of culture.
cultural resource management: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: CRM
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A professional area of archaeology that focuses on the protection of archaeological sites from urban development, energy exploration, or natural processes. It is the legally mandated conservation, protection, and management of sites and artifacts as a means of protecting the past. Safeguarding the archaeological heritage is done through the protection of sites and salvage archaeology (rescue archaeology). This branch of archaeology is also concerned with developing policies and action in regard to the preservation and use of cultural resources.
cultural resources: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Sites, structures, landscapes, and objects of some importance to a culture or community for scientific, traditional, religious, or other reasons. The remains that compose our nonrenewable heritage from the past, including both the archaeological and the historical records.
cultural transformation: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A change in the archaeological record resulting from later human behavior, such as digging a rubbish pit into earlier levels.
culture: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: In a general sense, the whole way of life of man as a species. In a more specific usage, it is the learned behavior, social customs, ideas, and technology characteristic of a certain people or civilization at a particular time or over a period of time (such as Eskimo culture). In this sense, a culture is a group of people whose total activities define what they represent and are transmitted to others in the group by social (mainly linguistic) -- as opposed to genetic -- means. Culture includes the production of ideas, artifacts, and institutions. In a more restricted sense (as in the term 'blade culture') culture signifies the artifacts or tool- and implement-making tradition of a people or a stage of development. Similar or related assemblages found in several sites within a defined area during the same time period, considered to represent the activities of one specific group of people is a culture. Cultures are often named for a particular site or an artifact. The word 'culture' in archaeology means a collection of archaeologically observable data; it is defined as the regularly occurring assemblage of associated artifacts and practices, such as pottery, house-types, metalwork, and burial rites, and regarded in this sense as the physical expression of a particular social group. This usage is especially associated with Gordon Childe, who popularized this concept as a means of analyzing prehistoric material. Thus the Bandkeramik culture of Neolithic Europe is an hypothesized social group characterized by its use of a particular type of pottery, houses, etc. The term, in reference to the specific elements of material culture, is most often used in the Old World.
culture-historical approach: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: culture history, culture historical approach, culture-historical theory
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An approach to archaeological interpretation which uses the procedure of the traditional historian; the organization of the archaeological record into a basic sequence of events in time and space. This approach assumes that artifacts can be used to build a generalized picture of human culture and descriptive models in time and space, and that these can be interpreted. It is the reconstruction of the prehistoric past based on temporal and spatial syntheses of data and the application of general descriptive models usually derived from a normative concept of culture and induction. Culture history is the chronological arrangement of the time phases and events of a particular culture.
Cunningham, Sir Alexander (1814-1883): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British general and archaeologist who excavated many sites in India, including Sarnath and Sanchi, and served as the first director of the Indian Archaeological Survey. He published an annual report, listing and describing the principal monuments of ancient India for the first time. His writings include The Bhilsa Topes (1854), the first serious attempt to trace Buddhist history through its architectural remains; The Ancient Geography of India (1871), the first collection of the edicts of the 3rd-century-BC Indian emperor Ashoka; and The Stûpa of Bharhut (1879).
Danevirke: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Danekirke
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A 5th-century line of earthwork fortifications that cut across the base of the Jutland peninsula, forming the southern boundary of Viking Age Denmark (now in Germany). Timbers in its construction have been dated to about 737 AD, but these were likely replacement timbers, making the first building phase still earlier. It is puzzling archaeologically because the traces of only one large timber hall have been found, associated with enormous quantities of imported luxury items including a great deal of West European glass. Godfrey, king of Denmark who halted Charlemagne's march northward, began the construction of the Danevirke.
data acquisition: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A stage in archaeological research design in which data are gathered, normally by three basic procedures -- reconnaissance, surface survey, and excavation.
data cluster: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Archaeological data found in association and in primary context and used to define areas and kinds of ancient activity. Such information may be divided into composite, differentiated, and simple data clusters.
data pool: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The archaeological evidence available within a given data universe, conditioned by both behavioral and transformational processes.
data processing: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A stage in archaeological research design usually involving, in the case of artifacts, cleaning, conserving, labeling, inventorying, and cataloging.
data universe: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A defined area of archaeological investigation, bounded in time and space, often a geographic region or an archaeological site.
dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: chronology
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The process by which an archaeologist determines dates for objects, deposits, buildings, etc., in an attempt to situate a given phenomenon in time. Relative dating, in which the order of certain events is determined, must be distinguished from absolute dating, in which figures in solar years (often with some necessary margin of error) can be applied to a particular event. Unless tied to historical records, dating by archaeological methods can only be relative -- such as stratigraphy, typology, cross-dating, and sequence dating. Absolute dating, with some reservation, is provided by dendrochronology, varve dating, thermoluminescence, potassium-argon dating, and, most important presently, radiocarbon dating. Some relative dating can be calibrated by these or by historical methods to give a close approximation to absolute dates -- archaeomagnetism, obsidian hydration dating, and pollen analysis. Still others remain strictly relative -- collagen content, fluorine and nitrogen test, and radiometric assay. Other methods include: coin dating, seriation, and amino-acid racemization. The methods have varying applications, accuracy, range, and cost. Many new techniques are being developed and tested.
datum point: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: datum
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The point on an archaeological site from which all measurements of level and contour are taken. It is the reference point used for vertical and horizontal measurement. It can be chosen at random, at a place from which all or most of the site can be seen, and should be tied in to the national standard, usually sea level, by reference to the nearest survey point. Depths of features, of objects found in features, or simply contours, are leveled in with reference to the datum point, and are usually recorded as being a certain height 'below local datum'. Should variations in contour or the extent of the site prove too great for a single datum point, another can be used as long as it is leveled in with reference to the first. A site grid and excavation units are laid out or measured with reference to this point.
deep sea cores: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: deep sea core dating, deep-sea cores
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique used in the analysis of data from oceanic sediments in which the material retrieved by the core yields information on temperature changes in the ocean through time. These changes, suggestive of climatic variation, help to chart the progress of glaciation and, since they can be dated, the technique assists in the establishment of a chronology for the Quaternary. The cores, some 5 cm. in diameter and up to 25 m. deep, are extracted from the ocean floor. The sediments they contain have a high percentage of calcium carbonate content made up of the shells of small marine organisms and these sediments build up very slowly, from 10-50 mm per 1000 years, but their sequence is uninterrupted. Since these organisms have different temperature preferences depending on species, the relative abundance of the various species changes as the temperature alters. Variations in the ratio of two oxygen isotopes in the calcium carbonate of these shells give a sensitive indicator of sea temperature at the time the organisms were alive. Through the identification of the species, and by the use of oxygen isotope analysis, a picture can be built up of variations in temperature over the millennia. Since various forms of dating (radiocarbon dating, ionium dating, uranium series dating, palaeomagnetism, protactinium/ionium dating) can be used on the carbonate in the shells, absolute dates can be given to the different levels in the core. Thus dates emerge for glaciations and interglacial periods, which can assist in the age determination of archaeological material found in association with these glacial phases. Problems with the technique are the difficulty of correlating oceanic temperature changes with continental glacial and interglacial phases, and the disturbance by animals living on the ocean bottom. The piston corer was developed in 1947.
dendrochronology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: tree-ring dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An absolute chronometric dating technique for measuring time intervals and dating events and environmental changes by reading and dating the pattern (number and condition) of annual rings formed in the trunks of trees. The results are compared to an established tree-ring sequence for a particular region with consideration to annual fluctuations in rainfall which result in variations in the size of the rings laid down by trees on the outside of their trunks. These variations, given favorable conditions, form a consistent pattern; and sections or cores taken from beams in ruins have been matched to provide a long chronology over large areas. The method is based on the principle that trees add a growth ring for each year of their lives, and that variations in climatic conditions will affect the width of these rings on suitable trees. In a very dry year growth will be restricted, and the ring narrow, while a wet and humid year will produce luxuriant growth and a thick ring. By comparing a complete series of rings from a tree of known date (for example, one still alive) with a series from an earlier, dead tree overlapping in age, ring patterns from the central layers of the recent tree and the outer of the old may show a correlation which allows the dating, in calendar years, of the older tree. The central rings of this older tree may then be compared with the outer rings or a yet older tree, and so on until the dates reach back into prehistory. Problems that arise are when climatic variation and suitable trees (sensitive trees react to climatic changes, complacent trees do not) are not be present to produce any significant and recognizable pattern of variation in the rings. Another problem is that there may be gaps in the sequences of available timber, so that the chronology 'floats', or is not tied in to a calendrical date or living trees: it can only be used for relative dating. Also, the tree-ring key can only go back a certain distance into the past, since the availability of sufficient amounts of timber to construct a sequence obviously decreases. Only in a few areas of the world are there species of trees so long-lived that long chronologies can be built up. This method is especially important in the southwestern United States, Alaska, and Scandinavia, dating back to several thousand years BC in some areas. Dendrochronology is of immense importance for archaeology, especially for its contribution to the refining of radiocarbon dating. Since timber can be dated by radiocarbon, dates may be obtained from dendrochronologically dated trees. It has been shown that the radiocarbon dates diverge increasingly from calendrical dates provided by tree-rings the further back into prehistory they go, the radiocarbon dates being younger than the tree-ring dates. This has allowed the questioning of one of the underlying assumptions of radiocarbon dating, the constancy of the concentration of C14 in the atmosphere. Fluctuations in this concentration have now been shown back as far as dendrochronological sequences go (to c 7000 BC), and thus dating technique is serving the further research on another. In 1929, A.E. Douglass first showed how this method could be used to date archaeological material. The long-living Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) of California has yielded a sequence extending back to c 9000 bp. In Ireland, oak preserved in bogs has produced a floating chronology from c 2850-5950 bp.
deposition: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: depositional process
CATEGORY: geology; term
DEFINITION: Any of the various processes by which artifacts move from active use to an archaeological context, such as loss, disposal, abandonment, burial, etc. It is the laying, placing, or throwing down of any material. In geology, it is the constructive process of accumulation into beds, veins, or irregular masses of any kind of loose, solid rock material by any kind of natural agent (wind, water, ice). The transformation of materials from a systemic to an archaeological context are directly responsible for the accumulation of archaeological sites and they constitute the dominant factor in forming the archaeological record. Deposition is the last stage of behavioral processes, in which artifacts are discarded.
depositional environment: CATEGORY: term; geology
DEFINITION: Any stratum or unit making up a separate layer of material at an archaeological site; the total of sedimentary and biological conditions, factors, and processes that result in a deposit(s). A depositional history is the order in which objects are deposited at a site.
desert pavement: CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: Terrain that is thickly covered -- or paved -- with small rocks. Vegetation is scarce, so soil, sand, and gravel have not been held in place. Wind and rain leave only rocks too large to move. This type of terrain is part of many Southwestern US archaeological finds.
desktop study: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An office-based search of historical and existing archaeological records about a site.
Devon Downs: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A limestone shelter in cliffs beside the lower Murray River in South Australia with a deposit rich in faunal material as well as stone and bone tools and dating to c 4000 BC. It was the first systematic archaeological excavation in Australia (1929). Interpretation of the stratigraphy and stone tool sequence at two sites introduced concepts of antiquity and cultural change in Aboriginal prehistory which had previously been denied in Australian anthropology.
diatom: CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: A microscopic, unicellular algae which grow in marine or fresh water and secrete silica skeletons (microfossils) that distinct by species. Their chances of survival are enhanced due to the silica and their deposition in anaerobic conditions. Diatoms can be sampled through deep sea or lake cores. Different species are associated with different habitats, so examples in archaeological deposits can yield information on the changing environment, particularly at coastal sites.
diatomite: CATEGORY: geology; fauna
DEFINITION: Microfossils formed from the silicate exoskeletons of diatoms found in marine or fresh water. Different species are associated with different habitats, so examples in archaeological deposits can yield information on the changing environment.
differential heat analysis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: differential thermal analysis
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A remote sensing technique in which the variability in heat absorption and dissemination is used to plot hidden archaeological features. In analytical chemistry, this technique is used for identifying and quantitatively analyzing the chemical composition of substances by observing the thermal behavior of a sample as it is heated.
dig: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: diggings
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: An archaeological excavation or the site that has been or is being excavated.
direct age determination: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The determination of the age of archaeological data by analysis of an artifact, ecofact, or feature.
direct historical approach: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: DHA
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The technique of working backwards in time, from the present into the past, from historic sites of known age into earlier times. This method of chronological ordering is based on the comparison of historically documented or contemporary artifacts with those recovered from archaeological contexts. An analogy or homology is made using historical records or historical ethnographic data for the site and the surrounding region. This technique was developed by W.D. Strong in the 1930s.
distribution: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: distributional archaeology; distribution patterns
CATEGORY: term; technique
DEFINITION: Simply, the spatial location of archaeological sites or artifacts. More specifically, a definition of the spatial location of artifacts, structures, or settlement types over a landscape. Analysis of the distribution of a particular artifact type may lead to conclusions about the nature of the industry or culture which produced or used it. The distribution of objects is studied by the plotting of an artifact's find-places on a distribution map. This is the visual representation of the distribution of some archaeologically significant trait or traits. The relationship of the find-spot symbols to the natural environment may reveal something about communication networks, economic subsystem, cultural or technological entities. The distribution map should show the extent of a culture of which the traits are distinctive, outlying occurrences being explained by diffusion, especially if spread along natural routes. The origin of more localized traits may be defined. The overlaying of one trait on another may suggest association or sequence, while mutually exclusive distributions can imply contemporaneity. The emphasis is on individual parts of archaeological deposits rather than on the site as a unit.
disturbance: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: disturbance process
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The changing or altering of an archaeological context by the effect(s) of an unrelated activity at a later time. Examples include dam building, farming, and heavy construction, as well as noncultural activities such as freeze-thaw cycles, landslides, and simple erosion. Disturbance is also the nonscientific removal of an artifact from its archaeological context.
ditch: CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: A common feature of archaeological sites in association with defensive structures, as a means of drainage, or as a construction trench. A ditch was usually dug outside the walls of forts, fortresses and so on, as part of the defenses, and was often filled with water. Ditches which are allowed to erode, without much interference, go through three phases of infilling. Primary fill accumulates as the sides of the ditch collapse. Vegetation then begins at the bottom of the ditch and the secondary fill starts to build up. This material has a much finer texture than primary fill. The rate of secondary fill deposition is related to soil erosion in the surrounding area. If the land by the ditch is plowed, thick colluvial deposits, called tertiary fill, may bury the secondary fill.
documentary archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The use of documentary sources to generate or enhance perspectives on the past, even in the absence of known archaeological materials.
documentary evidence: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Evidence from any documentary or literary source, used alongside physical or archaeological evidence to help find sites or interpret finds.
dog-leash technique: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method of defining an archaeological recovery area by attaching a rope to a centrally located marker stake and tracing the boundary in a circle.
dogu: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A type of clay figurine, most often depicting a pregnant female, made in Japan during the Jomon period, c 5th-4th millennium to c 250 BC. The function of these figurines is unknown, but it is generally believed that they were some kind of fertility symbol and they are reminiscent of the rigidly frontal fertility figures produced by other prehistoric cultures. Archaeological evidence suggests they were aids in childbirth as well as fertility symbols. They are also found in simulated burials, indicating some kind of ceremonial function. Fired at a low temperature, they often have crumbly surfaces and many are painted red.
dolmen: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: In antiquity (especially in France), a word for a megalithic tomb consisting of orthostats and capstone or for megalithic chamber tombs in general. This was usually a stone structure consisting of upright columns supporting a slab roof and known from Neolithic times. In English archaeological literature 'dolmen' should be used only for tombs whose original plan cannot be determined or for tombs of simple unspecialized types which do not fit into the passage grave or gallery grave categories; it is also used for relatively small, closed megalithic chambers, such as the dysser of Scandinavia. The name was probably derived from Cornish 'tolmen' (stone table). The word has a second meaning for the enclosure for burial in a jar of the Yayoi period in Japan consisting of a single large stone slab supported on a ring of stones. A third meaning is for a megalithic stone burial feature in western China and coast Yellow Sea area, dating to the 1st millennium BC, of which there are three forms -- raised table, low table, and unsupported capstone.
Dorians: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Peoples who invaded southern Greece from the north around the end of the 2nd millennium BC (1100) after the decline of the Mycenaeans. Some speculate that the Dorians were responsible for the Mycenaeans' overthrow. It has proved difficult to recognize their products in the archaeological record, and therefore it hard to discover their origins. In classical times the important Dorian dialect was spoken through much of the Peloponnese, the southern Aegean islands, and the southwest coast of Asia Minor. They also introduced the use of iron for swords. The invading Dorians had a relatively low cultural level, however, and after sweeping away the last of the declining Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations, they the region into a dark age out of which the Greek city-states did not emerge until almost three centuries later.
Druids: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A powerful Celtic priesthood of the Gauls and Britons from the 1st century BC through the 1st century AD. They led the resistance to the Romans, and when they were finally defeated in 78 AD they were exterminated, partly due to human sacrifices that they carried out. The Druids believed in reincarnation, worshipped the moon and heavenly bodies, and built circular temples in forest groves. Archaeologically the only material definitely attributed to them is a hoard of bronze and iron at Llyn Cerrig Bach in Anglesey. It is no held that they built Stonehenge or Avebury.
Dublin: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The modern capital of Ireland (Eire) was founded by the Vikings, or Norsemen, in the 9th century (c 831) and built on the ridge above the south bank of the river, the same spot where Dublin Castle was built. Throughout much of the Middle Ages it remained one of the foremost sea ports in the British Isles. Viking Dublin was a prosperous settlement, and excavations begun in the 1960s revealed a wealth of archaeological evidence for that period. From prehistoric times people have dwelt in the area about Dublin Bay, and four of Ireland's five great roads converged near the spot called Baile Atha Cliath (The Town of the Ford of the Hurdle"). Remarkable waterlogged conditions have preserved organic material from levels dating to between the 9th-14th centuries. The footings of wattle-and-daub and timber-framed buildings have been recovered with door posts screens and hearths as well as timber streets. There is also abundant evidence of the crafts and industries from the Hiberno-Scandinavian and Anglo-Norman periods -- woodworking metalworking hooping combmaking leatherworking and cobbling."
dune: CATEGORY: geology; geography
DEFINITION: A landform (hill, mound, or ridge) of sand or other loose material that is formed by wind action. Dunes exist due to the ability of wind to transport unconsolidated material and are mainly associated with desert regions where windblown sand occupies extensive areas. In the recent geological past, desert areas may have been even larger during dry periods in the Pleistocene glaciation. At that time great areas of loess (windblown silt) were deposited across North America, Europe, and Asia. Dunes also form in coastal areas. Migration of active dunes can bury archaeological deposits.
Early Dynastic period: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Archaic Period
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: A chronological phase in southern Mesopotamia between c 2900-2330 BC, ending with the founding of the Dynasty of Akkad. It was also known as the Pre-Sargonid period. The Sumerian city-states flourished under their separate dynastic rulers -- Ur, Umma, Kish, and Lagash. The period is 3100-2450 BC on what is called the high chronology" (the other being the "medium chronology"). The term itself is derived from the Sumerian 'king list' which implies that Sumer was ruled by kings at this stage although archaeological evidence for the existence of kingship is meager before the middle of the period. Traditionally it is divided by archaeologists into three subdivisions -- ED I II and III -- each of approximately 200 years duration. The Royal Tombs of Ur belong the ED III period. The Early Dynastic phase shows clear continuity from the preceding Jemdet Nasr and represents a period of rapid political cultural and artistic development. Within the period the pictographic writing of the earlier period developed into the standardized cuneiform script. This period represents the earliest conjunction of archaeological and written evidence for the history of southern Mesopotamia."
earthworm: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: angleworm
CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: Any of nearly 2000 species of terrestrial worms which act as one of the main agents by which plant litter, humus, and minerals are incorporated and mixed in soil. Earthworms are responsible for the maintenance and stability of various types of soil, especially the brown forest soils. The character of a soil may change markedly if the plant litter made by the vegetation changes to a kind which is unpalatable to earthworms. The effects of earthworm sorting may be seen on archaeological sites in the blurring of layers and the development of worm-sorted layers in the top of buried soils. Earthworms usually remain near the soil surface, but they are known to tunnel as deep as 6 feet during periods of dryness or in winter. Indirectly they provide food for man by aerating the soil, promoting drainage, and drawing organic material into their burrows where it decomposes faster, thus producing more nutritive materials for growing plants.
ecofact: CATEGORY: flora; fauna
DEFINITION: Any flora or fauna material found at an archaeological site; nonartifactual evidence that has not been technologically altered but that has cultural relevance, such as a shell carried from the ocean to an inland settlement. Seeds, pollen, animal bone, insects, fish bones, and mollusks are all ecofacts; the category includes both inorganic and organic ecofacts.
electrolysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A cleaning technique used in archaeological conservation. Artifacts are placed in a chemical solution, and by passing a weak current between them and a surrounding metal grill, the corrosive salts move from the cathode (object) to the anode (grill), removing any accumulated deposit and leaving the artifact clean. The process of electrolysis works by passing an electric current through a substance to effect a chemical change. The chemical change is one in which the substance loses or gains an electron (oxidation or reduction).
electromagnetic surveying: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: electromagnetic prospecting
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A geophysical surveying method used to locate archaeological features and differences in sediment or soil textures. A pulsed induction meter or soil conductivity meter generate electromagnetic waves at the surface of the earth, penetrating it and inducing currents in conducting ore bodies, thereby generating new waves that are detected by instruments at the surface or by a receiving coil lowered into a borehole. This technique only works at a very shallow level, and no electromagnetic instrument is as accurate as the resistivity meter or a proton magnetometer.
emmer: CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: A primitive variety of wheat, similar to einkorn. It was cultivated by early farmers and is a hulled species (i.e. threshing does not remove the glumes from the grain). It is found in archaeological contexts in its wild and its cultivated form from the eighth millennium BC onwards. It is still grown in mountainous parts of southern Europe as a cereal crop and livestock food. It is thought to be the ancestor of many other varieties of wheat.
environmental archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A subfield of archaeology which is the study of the environment in archaeological contexts. It includes not only the study of past flora (pollen analysis, palaeobotany, palaeoethnobotany, archaeobotany), and fauna (archaeozoology), but also that of insects (insect analysis), fish (fish bone analysis), and snail shells (molluscan analysis). All are studied in an attempt to recover the total environment of a past society and to understand man's impact on, and changes to, that environment. It is a field in which interdisciplinary research, involving archaeologists and natural scientists. Many disciplines are involved in this study: climatology, Quaternary geology, soil science, palaeobotany, zoology, and human biology.
eolian: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: aeolian
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: Of or pertaining to the wind. This adjective is used to describe deposits or materials moved or affected by the wind or processes related to the wind. Aeolian deposits can bury archaeological materials intact or with little disturbance. Aeolian erosion can collapse and displace archaeological materials. Aeolian particle movement can alter archaeological material through abrasion.
era: CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: A major division of geological time, usually distinguished by significant change in the animal and plant kingdoms and tens or hundreds of millions of years long; it is used to denote archaeological periods, such as the prehistoric era
Erligang phase: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Erh-li-kang
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A stage of the early Bronze Age in North China seen in two strata at Zhengzhou Erligang, classified archaeologically as Middle Shang. The phase preceded the Anyang period (c 1300-1030 BC) and radiocarbon dates have been c 1600-1550 bc. The massive rammed-earth fortification, 118 feet wide at its base and enclosing an area of 1.2 square miles, would have taken 10,000 men more than 12 years to build. Also found were ritual bronzes, including four monumental tetrapods, palace foundations; workshops for bronze casting, pot making, and bone working; burials; and two inscribed fragments of oracle bones. The Erligang phase may correspond to the widest sway of the Shang empire and is known for its highly developed bronze-casting industry. Some Chinese archaeologists call the phase Early Shang.
erosion: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: weathering
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The wearing away or loosening and transportation of soil or rock by water, wind, and ice. A group of processes are involved in the physical breakdown or chemical solution, removal, and transportation of the materials. Erosion can be accelerated by activities on the landscape. Three forms that can have significant impact on the archaeological record are soil erosion, gully erosion, and wind erosion.
ethnographic parallel: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ethnological parallel; ethnographic analogy
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A contemporary culture or behavior that, by the use of analogy and homology, is considered to be similar to another in history and therefore shed light on the latter. It is the use of both material and nonmaterial aspects of a living culture to form models to test interpretations of archaeological remains.
ethnohistory: CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of non-Western cultures using evidence from documentary sources and oral traditions. In areas where prehistoric and nonliterate cultures have survived into historical times, it is possible to reconstruct history before contact with literate populations through the study of myth and oral traditions, collected ethnographically. In Central America, the aboriginal written records are used in conjunction with the early European records, archaeological investigations, and oral tradition to reconstruct prehistoric life.
ethnoparallels: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The use of observations or knowledge of present-day people to interpret archaeological findings.
evolutionary archaeology: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An explanatory framework for the past that accounts for structure and change in the archaeological record in much the same way as biological evolution.
excavate: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: To dig out and remove archaeological materials from a site; to carry out the process of excavation.
excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The systematic and scientific recovery of cultural, material remains of people as a means of obtaining data about past human activity. Excavation is digging or related types of salvage work, scientifically controlled so as to yield the maximum amount of data. It is the main tool of the archaeologist. The excavation of a site, however, involves the destruction of the primary evidence, which can never be recovered. Excavation should therefore never be undertaken lightly or without an understanding of the obligations of the excavator to the evidence he destroys. The first decision is whether to excavate a site at all, a question of particular interest when sites are being rapidly destroyed by farming methods and road and town building. The nature and scale of the undertaking is the next decision. If time and/or money is short, sampling of the site may be all that is possible. If a large-scale excavation is to be undertaken, the approach will be either area (open) excavation, grid method, quadrant method, rabotage, sondage, etc. Removal of the topsoil will either be carried out by hand or machine. After an initial plan has been made of all visible features before excavation, digging proceeds according to the dictates of the site: sections may be taken across areas of feature intersection, or across individual features. A permanent record of the whole process should be kept: plans, drawings, notes, photographs. Excavation is only the first part of the process. For years, excavation was regarded as merely a method of collecting artifacts. Pitt Rivers in Britain and Petrie in the Near East first placed emphasis on evidence rather than artifacts, not what is found but where it was found relative to the layers of deposit (stratigraphy) and to other objects (association) -- the context. The excavator can only justify his destruction if it is done with meticulous care so that every artifact, be it an ax or a posthole, is discovered and if possible preserved; if it is recorded accurately enough for all information to remain available after the site has disappeared; and if this record is quickly made available by publication. In short, excavation is the digging of archaeological sites, removal of the matrix, and observance of the provenience and context of the finds therein, and the recording of them in a three-dimensional way.
experimental archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: experimental studies
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The reconstruction and reproduction of past behavior and processes to obtain or evaluate archaeological data and test hypotheses about the way man dealt with subsistence and technology. The experiments involve such activities as creating and using stone tools, duplicating prehistoric methods of farming, building, and travel, etc. The term is normally used only for those experiments which deal with material culture, such as industry, the building of structures, mining, and crop processing. The more theoretical aspects, such as ideas about the development and organization of society, are generally thought of a part of processual archaeology rather than experimental. Reconstructions can be based on excavated ground plans, and some of these have been deliberately burned or left to decay so that an idea can be gained of what the archaeologist might expect to find later. Boats have been built and sailed, food has been cooked in earth ovens and eaten, stone monuments have been laboriously erected, and trumpets and stringed instruments have been made and played. Although past events are not exactly repeatable, experimental simulation can prove very instructive and is being increasingly used. One of the earliest examples was General Pitt-Rivers' observations of the rate and duration of ditch silting on his excavations at Cranbourne Chase in the 19th century.
fall-off analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The study of regularities in the way in which quantities of traded items found in the archaeological record decline as the distance from the source increases. This may be plotted as a fall-off curve, with the quantities of material (Y-axis) plotted against the distance from source (X-axis).
faunal analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The study of animal remains in an archaeological site, as by identifying bones or shells, examining butcher marks, and so on. The analysis is used to determine past hunting and dietary practices.
faunal association: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A relative age determination technique based on archaeological associations with remains of extinct species.
Fayyum, al- or Fayum: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Fayoum, Fayum region, ancient Ta-she, She-resy, Moeris
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A large fertile depression in the Libyan Desert, southwest of Cairo near the west bank of the Nile, with two prehistoric cultures dating to c 5000 BC and c 4500 BC. These early settlements were of the first food-producing peoples of Egypt. Emmer and barley were cultivated and cattle, sheep, and pigs bred. Saw-edged sickle flints, mat-lined silo pits, and saddle querns have been found and ax heads were of flaked flint or ground pebbles. Hollow-based flint arrowheads, bone dart tips, stone maceheads, and bone harpoons were used for hunting and fishing. Artifacts of special note include a threshing flail and a wooden sickle set with flint teeth. Pottery was in use and beads of ostrich eggshell and seashells of both Mediterranean and Red Sea types were imported. Lake Qarun had fish which were a delicacy for Egyptians throughout the ages. In Middle Empire (c 2000 BC), the pharaohs (Amenemhet III) engaged in huge irrigation and drainage schemes and the area was famous for orchards and gardens. After a period of decline, the Ptolemies in turn took an interest in the area, establishing a number of small towns there, the papyrus archives which have survived in great quantity and excellent state of preservation. The region incorporates archaeological sites dating from the late Palaeolithic to the late Roman and Christian periods (c 8000 BC-641 AD), including Shedet (later Crocodilopolis), chief center for worship of the crocodile-god Sebek, near which al-Fayyum town now lies.
feature: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A nonmoveable/nonportable element of an archaeological site. It is any separate archaeological unit that is not recorded as a structure, a layer, or an isolated artifact; a wall, hearth, storage pit, or burial area are examples of features. A feature carries evidence of human activity and it is any constituent of an archaeological site which is not classed as a find, layer, or structure.
feedback: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A concept in archaeological applications of systems theory reflecting the continually changing relationship between cultural variables and their environment. It is the modification, adjustment, or control of a process or system by a result or effect of the process -- especially by a difference between a desired and an actual result.
Fernando Po: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Bioko, Formosa
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, once called Formosa, of particular archaeological interest. A Neolithic technology existed and continued till the early centuries of the 2nd millennium AD, presumably due to the absence of sources of metal. A similar situation existed in the Canary Islands. This site in western Africa lies in a strategic situation from which the Niger mouths and the Slave Coast could be watched.
field notes: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A written account of archaeological research, usually kept by each investigator, recording all stages of research design, but especially the conduct of data acquisition. It is the written record containing firsthand, on-the-spot observations. Field notes are considered primary field data.
field operations journal: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A running record of activities and finds during an archaeological excavation.
fieldwork: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: field study
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any form of archaeological research or exploration carried out in an actual setting in the natural environment -- excavation, surveying, fieldwalking, etc. -- rather than in a laboratory, museum, or other such facility. Some archaeologists call everything they do outdoors 'fieldwork', but others distinguish between fieldwork and excavation. Fieldwork, in the narrow sense, consists of the discovery and recording of archaeological sites and their examination by methods other than the use of the shovel and the trowel.
Fiji: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An archipelago in eastern Melanesia. Archaeological evidence shows that Fiji was settled by Austronesian-speaking peoples in the late 2nd millennium BC, and they developed pottery by about 1300 BC. A rich archaeological sequence begins with the Lapita culture from about 1300 BC, and progresses through successive ceramic phases to a period of earthwork for construction and warfare, starting after c 1100 AD. Fijians are a Melanesian/Polynesian population, and their islands formed the main bridgehead for the Polynesian settlement of western Polynesia soon after 1300 BC. Fiji is the most easterly point in Oceania to have maintained production of pottery throughout its pre-history. The Dutch navigator Abel Tasman explored the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni in 1643.
find: CATEGORY: artifact; term
DEFINITION: An act or instance of discovering archaeological remains, the remains discovered, or the location where this discovery occurs.
find-spot or find spot: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: find-place, find-site
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The location where an archaeological find is discovered.
fishbone analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The study of the remains of fish on archaeological sites, in the form of bones, otoliths, and scales. The latter only survive occasionally in anaerobic conditions, while otoliths have not, to date, been frequently recorded. Fish have markedly different skeletons from mammals. Many fishbones are so small that they appear only in sieving and the bones commonly preserved are the jaws and some other head bones, and the vertebrae. They usually accumulate in refuse deposits and may be interpreted in terms of diet and fishing on the site or in the area that supplied it. Identification of species through comparison with modern fishbones is becoming easier as larger collections of comparative material are built up. When a species has been identified it can lead to evidence for the hydrological conditions around the site; also, the occurrence of the remains of marine species on an inland site has implications for the movement of groups or a trade in fish. A combination of species identification and aging of fish through study of the otoliths can lead to assumptions about the seasonal occupation of certain settlement sites and the subsistence economy of the associated groups.
fission track dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: fission-track dating; fission track age determination
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A chronometric dating technique based on the natural, spontaneous nuclear fission of Uranium 238 and its byproduct, linear atomic displacements/tracks. The basis for this technique is that a uranium isotope, U 238, as well as decaying to a stable lead isotope, also undergoes spontaneous fission. One in every two million atoms decays in this way. Fission is accompanied by an energy release which sends the resulting two nuclei into the surrounding material, the tracks causing damage to the crystal lattice. These tracks can be counted under a microscope after the polished surface of the sample has been etched with acid. The concentration of uranium can be determined by the induced fission of U 235 by neutron irradiation of the sample. Since the ratio of U 235 to U 238 is known, and is constant, a comparison of the number of tracks from natural fission and the number from induced fission will give the age of the sample. Though the method has been limited in its archaeological use so far, it has already proved a useful check method for potassium-argon dating for volcanic deposits at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and obsidian, tephra beds, mineral inclusions in pottery, and some man-made glasses have also been dated. A further use of the method is based on the fact that fission tracks disappear if the substance is heated about 500? or so: thus a date achieved for clay (like a hearth), pottery, or obsidian that had been burnt gives the date of burning or firing, since previous fission tracks would have disappeared.
Flandrian: CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: Of or pertaining to the period since the retreat of the ice sheet and the rise of sea-level at the end of the last glaciation in northwestern Europe. The Flandrian can be dated by radiocarbon and ranges from 10,000 bp (the end of the Devensian) up to the present day. These deposits represent the latest Quaternary interglacial stage, equivalent to the Holocene epoch. The Flandrian includes sediments similar to those of previous interglacials, deposits on archaeological sites which contain Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Dark Age, medieval, and more recent artifacts.
flint scatter: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A general term applied to collections of worked flint, stone, debitage, and associated raw material gathered up from the surface of ploughed fields or disturbed ground. Such collections range in size from a few dozen through to many thousands of pieces, and may have been collected from areas of any size from a few metres across to several hectares. As such they do not represent distinct kinds of archaeological site but rather the archaeological manifestation of many different kinds of activity; their unity is a product of the way material has been recovered rather than the processes by which it was created in the first place. Much work has been devoted to characterizing flint scatters in terms of what they represent. It is now clear that some are caused by the erosion of underlying features and deposits which relate to a vast range of activities including settlements, stoneworking sites, and middens. In other cases the scatters reflect episodes of activity in the past that involved little more than the deposition of material on the contemporary ground surface which has subsequently become incorporated into the topsoil through natural and anthropogenic formation processes.
floodplain: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: flood-plain
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A landform created by deposits in a river valley that floods. As the flood waters recede, the suspended sediment is deposited as alluvium and causes slow vertical accretion. Floodplains are often made up of secondary features such as individual flood basins, abandoned channels, secondary flood channels, tributary stream courses, and natural levees. They are prime agricultural land and archaeological deposits may be well-preserved in the subenvironments.
floral analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The study of plant remains from an archaeological site, including identification, association with artifacts and food processing, etc.
flotation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique developed to assist in the recovery of plant, insect, and molluscan remains from archaeological deposits; a method of screening in which minute pieces of flora are separated from the soil by agitation with water. The technique works on the principle that organic material such as carbonized seeds, snail-shells, and beetle wing-cases have a lower specific gravity than inorganic materials such as soil and stone, and will thus float on the top of a suitable liquid medium while the rest will sink. Water is commonly used for flotation, though there are disadvantages since it has a fairly low specific gravity and heavier material such as fruit stones will sink. Other media have been used, such as carbon tetrachloride solution or zinc chloride solution. Flotation of samples by hand is called wet sieving. Samples of material are slowly poured into water, any lumps are broken up, and the flot is drawn off with a sieve. The method is more controlled than flotation by machine, and the recovery rate is better. For large-scale excavations, machines are used. Operating principles vary: samples are poured into a large container of water, or water and paraffin, which is agitated by air injection or by currents of inflowing water. The addition of a floculating agent increases surface tension, though not all machines are 'froth flotation' machines. The flot is carried off the surface through a mesh, or series of meshes to allow preliminary sorting. Samples retrieved are sent away for specialist identification and analysis by an archaeobotanist.
Font de Gaume: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Font-de-Gaume
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A painted cave close to Les Eyzies in the Dordogne region, southwest France. Excavations have revealed archaeological levels deep in the interior spanning several earlier Upper Palaeolithic phases, but the polychrome paintings of bison and other animals date from the late Magdalenian at the end of the Palaeolithic (c 14,000-10,000 BC).
foot survey: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ground survey
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Archaeological reconnaissance on foot; the direct observation of a surface by walking over it. It is often carried out with a set interval between members of the survey team and surface features and artifacts are plotted on a site map. Excavation is determined from this primary information.
Ford, James Alfred (1911-1968): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: American archaeologist who worked mainly in southeastern US and developed the technique of seriation of chronological ordering. He established the archaeological sequence of ceramic typology, seriation, and stratigraphy of coastal Peru. Ford argued that archaeological types were imposed on data by the classifier.
forensic archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A subset of archaeology applying archaeological and bioarchaeological knowledge in legal proceedings
form: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: formal difference, formal dimension, form attribute, form analysis, form type
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The physical characteristics -- size, shape, composition, arrangement -- of any archaeological find or any component of a culture. Form is an essential part of attribute analysis; in archaeological research, the first objective is to describe and analyze the physical attributes of data to determine distributions in time and space and leads to form classifications. For example, the shape of a pot or other tool directly reflects its function.
formal analogy: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any analogy justified by similarities in the formal attributes of archaeological and ethnographic objects and features
formation process: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: site formation process
CATEGORY: term; technique
DEFINITION: The total of the processes -- natural and cultural, individual and combined -- that affected the formation and development of the archaeological record. Natural formation processes refer to natural or environmental events which govern the burial and survival of the archaeological record. Cultural formation processes include the deliberate or accidental activities of humans. On a settlement site, for example, the nature of human occupation, the activities carried out, the pattern of breakage and loss of material, rubbish disposal, rebuilding, or re-use of the same area will all influence the surviving archaeological deposits. After the site's abandonment, it will be further affected by such factors as erosion, glaciation, later agriculture, the activities of plants and animals, as well as the natural processes of chemical action in the soil. Reconstruction of these processes helps to relate the observed evidence of an archaeological site to the human activity responsible for it.
formulation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The first stage in archaeological research design, involving definition of the research problem and goals, background investigations, and feasibility studies. It is the process of making decisions about a research project prior to formal research design.
Fort Rock Cave: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Fort Rock Basin
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An ancient Pleistocene site in Oregon dated to over 13,000 BP and associated sites with a long sequence of occupation in the same lake basin. Deposits of pumice from an eruption of nearby Mount Mazama in c 5000 bc provided excellent chronological control for these sites. Associated artifacts, including a mano and metate, projectile points, and other stone artifacts indicate an early hunting and gathering subsistence pattern for this period. Later contexts contain artifacts of the Desert Tradition. Occupation continued into historic times, but looting has caused the archaeological record to be unreliable after c 1000 BC.
fossil cuticles: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: The outermost layer of the skin of leaves or blades of grass, made of cutin, a very resistant, protective material that survives in the archaeological record often in feces. Cuticular analysis is useful to palynology in environmental reconstruction.
fossiles directeurs: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: type fossils
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: Classes of lithic artifacts associated with specific time periods and archaeological cultures of the European Paleolithic.
Fox, Sir Cyril (1882-1967): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British archaeologist who made important contributions to the development of field archaeology in the 1920s-1930s. With Wheeler, he led the development of excavation techniques in Britain and he is also remembered for his geographical approach to archaeological problems, as in his Archaeology of the Cambridge Region" (1923) and "Personality of Britain" (1932) in which he described the concept of a division of Britain into Highland and Lowland Zones."
frequency seriation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A relative age determination technique in which artifacts or other archaeological data are chronologically ordered by ranking their relative frequencies of appearance. It is based on the idea that an artifact type first steadily grows in popularity and then steadily declines.
Frisians: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A Germanic people inhabiting the North Sea coastal plain and islands between the Rhineland and the Elbe (Frisia) in the early centuries BC and AD. Their coastal settlements were on artificial mounds known as terpen. The Frisians were involved in the invasion of England by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century AD. They controlled the trade of the North Sea from the port of Dorestad at the mouth of the Rhine, which became a target for Viking raids. Frisia was absorbed into the Frankish kingdom, its conquest being completed by Charlemagne. Archaeological evidence of these trading ventures is seen at Dorestad, where extensive excavations have been done. Evidence in the mounded villages show signs of long-distance trade contacts, suggesting that the Frisians linked the Rhineland to the northern world from the beginning of the Roman period until modern times.
frost marks: CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: Variations in the amount of frost retained on the ground that indicate the presence of buried archaeological features, detected primarily by aerial photography. The differential retention of frost in hollows and over different types of material can reveal the features of an archaeological site.
function: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: functional concept
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The purpose or use of a component within a culture. The second goal of archaeological research is analysis of data and their relationships to determine function and thus reconstruct and create synchronic descriptions of ancient behavior. It is a model of culture that is keyed to the functions of its various components, which unite into a single system or structure.
Ganges civilization: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A city-state civilization by the 7th-6th centuries BC, characterized by extensive urban settlement and a developed social organization. The state engaged in long struggles for power, which ended in the 4th century BC with the establishment of the Mauryan empire. Much of the information about the Ganges civilization comes from literary sources. Archaeological excavations have usually been on a small scale. Cities were large and usually fortified, often with massive mud ramparts. The characteristic pottery is Northern Black polished ware.
Gatecliff Shelter: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A prehistoric archaeological site in Monitor Valley of central Nevada with deposits spanning the last 7000 years.
Gdansk: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A city situated on the mouth of the Vistula River in Poland, which evolved from the 12th century AD to become one of the most important trading centers of eastern Europe. A collection of Byzantine silks was an important archaeological find.
gelifluction: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A geologic process occurring when the active layer of permafrost moves under the influence of gravity. The soft flowing layer is often folded and draped on hillsides and at the base of slopes as solifluction, or gelifluction, lobes. Gelifluction can cause destruction or redistribution of archaeological deposits.
gender archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The archaeological study of the relative positions in society of men and women through identifying and studying the differences in power and authority they held, as they are manifested in material remains. These differences can survive in the physical record although they are not always immediately apparent and are often open to interpretation. The relationship between the genders can also inform relationships between other social groups such as families, different classes, ages and religions.
gender archaeology: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The archaeological study of the relative positions in society of men and women through identifying and studying the differences in power and authority they held, as they are manifested in material remains. These differences can survive in the physical record although they are not always immediately apparent and are often open to interpretation. The relationship between the genders can also inform relationships between other social groups such as families, different classes, ages and religions.
general analogy: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: general theory
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: An analogy used in archaeological interpretation based on broad and generalized comparisons that are documented across many cultural traditions. The broadest level of archaeological theory, referring to frameworks that describe and attempt to explain cultural processes that operated in the past.
general systems theory: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cybernetics
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A theory that human society can be studied as a system broken down into many interacting subsystems, or parts. It is the premise that any organization may be looked at to discover how its parts are related and how changes in either parts or their relationships produce changes in the overall system. In archaeological terms, the system might be the whole of a society's culture, or some part of it such as the economy or even a single settlement. Systems can be regarded as either open or closed; the latter have no input of energy or matter from the outside, tend to reach a state of stable equilibrium in which small changes can be offset, and eventually stagnate and disintegrate, while open systems have an input of energy from the outside, reach a state of unstable equilibrium in which any small change can produce significant transformations in the system as a whole, and are characterized by growth and change. The process by which a system tends to maintain equilibrium in the face of changed surroundings is termed homeostasis, while morphogenesis is the process by which the structure is changed or elaborated.
geoarchaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The techniques of geology applied to archaeological issues, such as dating methodology, mineral identification, soil and stratification analysis; the investigation of the relationship between archaeological and geological processes. It is an ecological approach to archaeology with the goal of understanding the physical context of archaeological remains and the emphasis on the interrelationships among cultural and land systems.
geochronology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: geological dating
CATEGORY: technique; related field
DEFINITION: The study of earth history by correlating archaeological events to the timing and sequencing of geological events. Specifically, it is the dating of archaeological data in association with a geological deposit or formation, such as the dating of Pleistocene human remains in the context of glacial advances and retreats. The term is applied to all absolute and relative dating methods that involve the earth's physical changes, like radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, archaeomagnetism, fluorine testing, obsidian dating, potassium-argon dating, thermoluminescence, and varve dating.
geofact: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: Any mineral or rock resource that is found in an archaeological site; they can reveal evidence of a nearby quarry, etc.
geomagnetic surveying: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method of remote sensing that uses deviations in the earth's gravitational field to locate archaeological deposits.
geophysical prospecting: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: geophysical survey
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The location and recording of buried sites by detecting variations in the magnetic properties or resistance to an electrical current of the soil. Many archaeological surveying techniques designed to identify features without excavation use instruments that measure physical properties of surface materials.
Ghar Dalam: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A cave site in southern Malta near Birzebbuga which has lent its name to the island's earliest Neolithic phase. The culture, dated to the late 5th millennium BC, is characterized by evidence of domesticated animals and cultivated plants and by the use of Impressed Ware similar to that of contemporary eastern Sicily (Stentinello). There was obsidian from Lipari. The earliest archaeological remains date from about 3800 BC. Neolithic farmers lived in caves like those at Dalam or villages like Skorba (near Nadur Tower).
Ghirshman, Roman (1895-1979): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Ukrainian/French developer of archaeological work in Afghanistan and Iran who led a rescue mission in Luristan and carried out excavations at Tepe Sialk near Kashan. After World War II, he headed the French excavations at Susa in southwestern Iran. He also worked at Tello, Giyan, Sialk, and Choga Zanbil.
Gilgamesh: CATEGORY: deity
DEFINITION: The hero of the best-known Sumerian epic, a famous figure of the early 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh was considered half god, half man in the literature. The Gilgamesh epic is an Akkadian poem written on 12 tablets which describe his reign as ruler of Uruk and his search for immortality; it includes the story of the Flood. The historical figure was named as a ruler of Warka in the Sumerian king list. He is now thought to have been a real king of the First Dynasty of Uruk (Early dynastic III phase, c 2650-2550 BC). The epics credit him with the construction of two temples and the city wall at Uruk and archaeological excavations have shown that these are real structures. Out of the nine Sumerian epics known, four are about Gilgamesh and cover a wide variety of topics, including man and nature, love and adventure, and friendship and combat. The desire for immortality carries Gilgamesh to the mythical land of Dilmun and brings him into contact with the Babylonian/Sumerian Noah-figure, Utanapishtim.
Gilund: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in Rajasthan, western India, along the banks of the Banas and its tributaries of the Harappan (Indus) and post-Harappan cultures of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. Archaeological evidence indicates that early humans lived there some 100,000 years ago. It became a substantial farming village, with four major phases of occupation. Pottery types include black and red ware and a fine black, red and white polychrome ware.
Glob, Peter Vilhelm (1911-1985): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: A Danish archaeologist who wrote An Archaeological History from the Stone Age to the Vikings" (also published as "Danish Prehistoric Monuments" 1971; originally published in Danish 1942) "The Mound People: Danish Bronze-Age Man Preserved" (1974 reissued 1983; originally published in Danish 1970) and "The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved" (1969 reissued 1988; originally published in Danish 1965). His writings focused on the bog bodies of Tollund and Grauballe; he was also Director General of Museums and Antiquities in Denmark."
Global Positioning System: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: GPS
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A satellite-based system used in determining the location of archaeological sites by triangulation from orbiting satellites. The Global Positioning System has 18 satellites, six in each of three orbital planes spaced 120? apart. The GPS is designed to provide fixes anywhere on Earth to an accuracy of 20 meters and a relative accuracy 10 times greater.
Glozel: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in Allier, France, with an assemblage of pottery, clay tablets, bricks, terra-cottas, and glass that has been claimed as evidence of civilization in France prior to Greek and Roman contact. These items have been dismissed as forgeries but some items tested by thermoluminescence indicate a date range of 700 BC-100 AD. The discrepancy between the archaeological and the scientific evidence has yet to be resolved.
gray literature or grey literature: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Archaeological reports with limited distribution and no peer review, especially cultural resource management reports.
Great Zimbabwe: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Late Iron Age site in southeastern Zimbabwe, by far the largest and most elaborate of the dry-stone constructions to which the term dzimbahwe is applied. After an Early Iron Age phase of 500-900 AD, the main sequence of occupation began around 1000 when Shona speakers occupied Zimbabwe Hill and began building stone walls around 1300. Great Zimbabwe was the capital of the Shona empire from 1270-1450 AD, which stretched from the Zambezi River to the northern Transvaal of South Africa and eastern Botswana. There was a class system and the kings accumulated wealth through trade, attested by items such as glass vessels and beads, pottery, and porcelain. Gold was the principal export; Great Zimbabwe appears to have been at the center of a network of related sites through which control was exercised over the gold-producing areas. Archaeologically, the culture is called the Zimbabwe Tradition and is divided into Mapungubwe, Zimbabwe, and Khami phases. In the 15th century the site declined with trade and political power shifting to the north near the Zambezi Valley.
grid: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: grid unit
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A system of perpendicular lines and equally spaced points to form a rectangle which is used as a frame of locational reference on an archaeological sites. A grid is usually defined by its distance and direction in reference to a datum point. Excavations units are often planned and recorded by grid. Grids are often aligned with either the anticipated site layout or with a landform upon which the site sits. Many archaeological sites are surveyed by measuring from a grid enclosing the site. It is a rectilinear system of X, Y coordinates which is established over the area to be excavated so that spatial control can be maintained.
grid layout: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: grid system, grid method, box system, grid planning
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The practice of dividing an archaeological site into squares for ease of recording features and objects during excavation. The term also refers to the two-dimensional intersecting network defining the squares in which archaeologists dig; usually set out with strings, stakes, and a transit. Often a square trench will be cut within each grid square, separated by a balk from each neighboring trench. Each square is suitable for excavation by two or three people. Advantages of the method are in the creation of a number of readily available sections on the site, the ease of spoil removal (along the balk), and the control which can be exercised over excavators. On open sites with little stratigraphy above the rock surface, the method is often unnecessary. The balks in the grid method may also obscure many of the important stratigraphical relationships, or make impossible the recognition of structures. This technique allows the fast recording of very large areas, but is not as accurate as triangulation for the pinpointing of small objects and features. The use of grid planning and triangulation together often satisfies most of the combined needs of speed and accuracy.
Grotta-Pelos: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Pelos-Lakkoudes
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A culture of a series of archaeological sites in the Cyclades (Early Cycladic I), c 3200-2700 BC.
ground reconnaissance: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A collective name for a variety of methods for identifying archaeological sites, including consultation of documentary sources, place-name evidence, local folklore and legend, but primarily the visual inspection from groundwork of a potential site.
ground survey: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A surface survey technique using direct observation to gather archaeological data that is present on the ground surface. The term includes mapping and surface collection of artifacts.
gully: CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: An eroded landform which is a trench with steep sidewalls and a headwall cut into the land by an accelerated stream of water. The process of erosion can remove large quantities of sediment and destroy archaeological deposits. Some deep gullies have been used as settlement sites.
Hafun / Hafun Point: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Xaafuun
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A peninsula on the eastern coast of Somalia with the best archaeological evidence yet available from the East African coast south of the Red Sea for early trade contact with the Mediterranean world at the beginning of the Christian era. No permanent settlement is attested, but burials contain imported pottery, some of it Hellenistic. The earliest written accounts of the East African coast occur in the Periplus Maris Erythraei" -- apparently written by a Greek merchant living in Egypt in the second half of the 1st century AD -- and in Ptolemy's Guide to Geography the East African section of which in its extant form probably represents a compilation of geographic knowledge available at Byzantium in about 400. The Periplus describes in some detail the shore of what was to become northern Somalia. Ships sailed from there to western India to bring back cotton cloth grain oil sugar and ghee while others moved down the Red Sea to the East African coast bringing cloaks tunics copper and tin. Aromatic gums spices tortoiseshell ivory and slaves were traded in return."
Halawa Valley: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A valley on eastern Molokai, Hawaiian Islands, which has been the focus of intensive archaeological research. Major sites include one of the earliest Hawaiian settlements at the valley mouth (c 600-1200), and inside the valley are many irrigated taro terraces which document intensification of cultivation and perhaps political development at a late stage of Hawaiian prehistory (after 1500).
Han Dynasty: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A historical dynasty and period in China, after the collapse of the brief rule of the Ch'in (Qin) Dynasty, from 206 BC to 220 AD. This dynasty took over the control of a unified China and had two main periods: Western (Early) Han (206 BC-8 AD) and Eastern (Late) Han (25-220 AD), separated by the Wang Meng (Wangman) of 9-25 AD. The Western Han capital was Chang'an and the Eastern (Late) Han (25-220 AD) at Lo-Yang (Luoyang). Next to the rich tombs at Mawangdui and Mancheng, perhaps the most revealing Han archaeological finds are a number of tombs whose wall paintings, decorated tiles, and stone reliefs form the earliest substantial corpus of Chinese pictorial art. The Han dynasty started iron and salt monopolies, extended itself through the commandery system, opened trade to the West via the silk route, and began the tradition of court histories.
historic archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: historical archaeology; historic sites archaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A branch of archaeological study and interpretation that deals with literate societies -- the objects and events since the beginnings of recorded history. In North America, historically documented research is directed at colonial and post-colonial settlement, analogous to the study of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in Europe.
Historic Sites Act of 1935: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A United States law that declared it a national policy to identify and protect important archaeological and historical sites on federal land. An act that provided for the preservation of historic American sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities of national significance and for other purposes.
Hoabinhian: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Hoabinh
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A little-known Mesolithic or Neolithic culture (early-to-mid-Holocene stone tool industry) of southeast Asia (type site is Hoa Binh, Vietnam) dating from 10,000-2000 BC. There are many chipped, pecked, and polished stone axes found in piles of shells. Its importance lies in its position between the earliest centers of rice growing in India and China, and in the part it most have played in diffusing the knowledge of agriculture into Indonesia and the Pacific. The Neolithic assemblages have pottery and ground stone tools for several millennia after 6000 BC. It is best described as a techno-complex with successive cultural accretions, the Hoabinhian cannot be regarded as an archaeological culture of chronological horizon. The majority of Hoabinhian sites found to date are in rock shelters and coastal shell middens. The three recognized phases are: archaic with unifacially worked pebble tools, intermediate with smaller pebble tools and bifacial working and edge-grinding, and late characterized by some pottery, smaller scrapers, grinding stones, knives, piercers, polished stone tools, and shell artifacts.
Homer (9th/8th/7th c BC?): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: A Greek writer of which little is known other than his name is attached to the two great epic poems of ancient Greece, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homeric archaeology is the study of the poems attributed to Homer, attempting to match the description of an object, building, social structure, or custom within the poems to the archaeological record. Heinrich Schliemann is the most well-known Homeric archaeologist, having discovered Troy.
homostadial: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Archaeological cultures that represent similar levels or technological advance with other cultures, regardless of a difference derived in absolute dating methods. This is the principle behind the Three Age System.
homotaxial: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Archaeological cultures or strata that have the same relationship to one another but are not necessarily contemporaneous. Objects are homotaxial if they appear in the same relative position in different sequences. The assumption that they are therefore contemporary is usually valid in geology, with its enormous time spans, but certainly not in archaeology, where time lag must be allowed for.
horncore: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: horn core
CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: The hard, bony inner portion of animal horn; the bony projections from the skull which support horns. The horn itself forms a tight sheath around the core, which is removed for horn working. Some archaeological sites have large accumulations of horn cores related to a horn-working industry.
household cluster: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: household unit
CATEGORY: term; feature
DEFINITION: A term used to describe a set of features associated with one house structure. Components would include a house, a few storage pits, graves, a rubbish area, perhaps an oven or hearth, and activity areas. It is an arbitrary archaeological unit defining artifact patterns reflecting the activities that take place around a house and assumed to belong to one household.
Huasteca: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An area on the northeastern fringe of Mesoamerica in northern Veracruz and Tamaulipas provinces of Mexico and the Maya-speaking group that lived there. The people were hunter-gatherers and the area has an archaeological sequence from the Early Preclassic to the Aztec conquest and Spanish contact. The cultural climax of the Huasteca occurs in the Early Post-Classic. The largest of the Huasteca centers (Las Flores, Tamuin) contain only moderately sized pyramids surrounded by a number of housemounds. The monumental sculpture is of relatively poor quality. The hallmarks of the Huastec culture are structures on a round plan, a black-on-white hard paste pottery, and carved shell ornaments.
Huns: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A nomadic pastoralist people who invaded southeastern Europe c 370 AD and over the next 70 years built up an enormous empire there and in central Europe. Originating from beyond the Volga River after the middle of the 4th century, they first overran the Alani, who occupied the plains between the Volga and the Don rivers, and then quickly overthrew the empire of the Ostrogoths between the Don and the Dnestr. Around 376 AD they defeated the Visigoths living in what is now approximately Romania and then became one of the many 'barbarian' tribes who threatened the Roman empire during the 4th and 5th centuries. There is little archaeological evidence attributed to the Huns, but they are remembered in the literature as being fearsome and bloodthirsty. During the 5th century, the Romans adopted a policy of employing 'barbarian' mercenaries to defend the empire against potential invaders, so the Huns were used to defend eastern Gaul from the Burgundians. The most notable period for the Huns was under their leader Attila, who invaded Gaul in 451. Visigothic and Roman forces joined to defeat Attila near Troyes, and after Attila's death the Huns were never again a major force in European history.
hypotheticodeduction: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: hypothetico-deductive explanation, hypothetico-deductive reasoning
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A type of scientific reasoning in which a hypothesis is made, predictions are deduced, and then the hypothesis tested for accuracy against archaeological data. Deductive reasoning is used to find and verify the logical consequences. Developed by Sir Isaac Newton in the late 17th century, it is a procedure for the construction of a scientific theory that will account for results obtained through direct observation and experimentation and that will, through inference, predict further effects that can then be verified or disproved by empirical (observed or experienced) evidence derived from other experiments.
ideofact: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Archaeological material resulting from past human ideological activities. Any object whose function is to express or symbolize the beliefs of a people rather than to serve practical or social needs.
Ileret: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Koobi Fora
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site on the east side of Lake Turkana in Kenya which has yielded important archaeological sites from the Pleistocene and one from the late 3rd millennium BC. Domestic cattle and sheep make this one of the earliest sites in East Africa with evidence for pastoralism. Associated pottery and stone bowls serve as a link with Pastoral Neolithic sites of significantly later date in the Rift Valley highlands to the south. The site of Koobi Fora is very important for its finds of early Hominid fossils and stone artifacts from 2.5-1 million years ago.
Ilopango: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The site of a catastrophic volcanic eruption in south-central El Salvador in the late Pre-Classic Period, c 260 AD. At least two volcanic events occurred close together and the effects devastated a large area, forcing the local populations of early Maya to migrate north and east into the lowlands of central Guatemala and Belize. This sudden influx of migrants may have given rise to the improved agricultural methods which mark the beginning of the Classic Maya civilization. Archaeological evidence at Barton Ramie (and at Altar De Sacrificios) indicates a period of noticeable environmental and demographic change at that time.
implementation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The second stage in archaeological research design; which involves obtaining permits, raising funds, and making logistical arrangements.
Inca: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: South American Indians who, at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1532, ruled an empire that extended along the Pacific coast and Andean highlands from the northern border of modern Ecuador to the Maule River in central Chile. The Inca established their capital at Cuzco (Peru) in the 12th century. They began their conquests in the early 15th century and within 100 years had gained control of an Andean population of about 12,000,000 people. These Quechua-speaking tribes' origins are uncertain. Their vast empire had a centralized organization and at its head was the ruler, 'Son of the Sun', worshipped as a god in his own lifetime. As a divine king he was above the law, and as a despotic ruler he was very much the political head of the state. Administration was in the hands of officials drawn from the Inca nobility and from the chiefs of conquered tribes. An efficient road system, along which relays of messengers could travel 250 km in a day, ensured that Cuzco was kept informed of developments all over the empire. These same roads allowed Inca forces to be quickly moved into any province which showed signs of rebellion. This centralization was both the strength and the weakness of the Inca state. The unifying force was the ruler in person, and the death of Huayna Capac precipitated a crisis. Civil war broke out when two of his sons, Huascar and Atahuallpa, disputed the succession. Atahuallpa won the war, but before he could consolidate his position he was seized and murdered by Francisco Pizarro's Spaniards in 1532. Without a leader the Inca system could not function. Most of the empire was quickly brought under Spanish control, but an independent Inca group held out in the Urubamba valley until 1572. Viracocha Inca was the creator, culture hero, and supreme deity of the Inca, but the religion embraced a pantheon of gods of nature. The most actively worshipped were the sun and, by extension, the emperor, who was considered the son of the sun. The Temple of the Sun, built at the pre-Incan ceremonial center of Pachacamac suggests some incorporation of earlier religions. Archaeologically, the Inca culture is characterized by fine quality stone masonry, agricultural terraces, mass-produced and standardized pottery forms (aryballus), and metal objects. The considerable architectural skill of the Inca is reflected in Cyclopean masonry, although many buildings were constructed using rectangular dressed stone blocks as well as adobe. The basic dwelling-unit was a cluster of single rooms arranged around a rectangular courtyard and was most often enclosed by a wall. Writing was unknown, but the quipu was used for keeping records. Agriculture was based on plant foods, especially potato, manioc, quinoa, and maize. Domesticated animals included dog, llama, cava (guinea pig), and alpaca. Fine textiles were woven using a simple backstrap loom. The civilization was the largest and most powerful political unit in all the prehistoric America. It has been argued that the whole of Inca achievement relied heavily on a variety of political, societal and religious infrastructures already in place before their ascendancy.
incense cup: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pygmy vessel
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A small subsidiary vessel found with Middle Bronze Age burials and placed beside food vessels or urns in southern England. It is found with the skeleton or cinerary urn in the barrows of the Wessex culture, c 1700 BC. The name is an archaeological label only, arising from the holes some of these vessels have through their walls, as their use is actually unknown.
index fossil: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: index fossil concept; index species
CATEGORY: artifact; technique
DEFINITION: A fossil with widespread geographical range but which is restricted in time to a brief existence. In archaeology, it is a theory that proposes that strata containing similar fossil assemblages will tend to be of similar age. This concept enables archaeologists to characterize and date strata within archaeological sites using diagnostic artifact forms, making an animal species the basis for dating by faunal association. Artifacts that share the attributes of index fossils are useful in the cross-dating and correlation of deposits that contain them and in the construction of chronologies.
indirect age determination: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: indirect dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The determination of the age of archaeological data by association with a matrix or an object of known age. When object A is found clearly associated with object B, whose date is known, the date of B is given to A.
Indo-European: CATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: A group of languages from which most modern European languages are derived, as well as Indian Sanskrit and the Farsi language of Iran. It is assumed that the dispersal of these languages must have occurred through large-scale migrations of people. Attempts have been made to identify the carriers of Indo-European languages with groups recognizable in the archaeological record. When the groups were literate or are recorded in other people's documents, as with the Hittites and the Luwians in Asia Minor, it is possible to establish that the groups were indeed Indo-European speakers. One school maintains that the original homeland was in the south Russian steppes in the 5th millennium BC and spread into Europe with the Single Grave, Corded Ware, and Globular Amphorae groups. Indo-European was first recognized by Sir William Jones in 1786. It includes most of the modern European languages (Romance, Germanic, Slavic, Baltic, Greek, Albanian) and modern Indo-Iranian (Persian, Hindi).
induced polarization technique: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique similar to resistivity surveying used for the location of archaeological features. It involves the measurement of transient induced polarization voltage which results from the passing of direct current through the ground via electrodes. The method requires the presence of an electrolytic solution and thus it is the greater or lesser water content of the features, in contrast to the surrounding soil, that allows their detection. A ditch would have a high induced polarization response, while a wall would have a low one.
industrial archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The archaeological study of the period and sites of the Industrial Revolution and later. It involves the discovery, recording, and study of the material remains of past industrial activities, covering ways of making, transporting and distributing things.
insect analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any studies of insect remains in an attempt to reconstruct past environments. Pollen analysis and molluscan analysis can reveal information on climate, the environment and, sometimes, the activities of man. Insect remains are usually found in the form of the exoskeleton, parts such as the wing-cases of beetles, and they always come from anaerobic deposits such as ditches, wells, pits, and peat bogs; many of the parts of insects that are species-distinctive do not survive in archaeological deposits. They can be separated from the soil sample by flotation. Insects respond more quickly than plants to climatic change, and may therefore assist in the identification of micro-climatic phases. Insects also have habitat preferences, which is helpful in identifying specific environments.
instrument map: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: An archaeological map made by use of surveyor's instruments, allowing for accurate control over distance, direction, and elevation.
interpretation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A stage in archaeological research design at which the results of analyses are synthesized and attempts made to explain their meaning, allowing a reconstruction of the past.
interpretive archaeology: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Post-processual archaeology using coherence of data and context in an attempt to understand the meaning of archaeological evidence, as distinct from both the more extreme relativist, post-structural archaeology and processual archaeology.
interpretive theory: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any theory that says ancient thoughts, beliefs, motivations, and feelings may sometimes be recovered from the archaeological record.
intuitive map: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: compass map
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A preliminary map of an archaeological site.
intuitive sampling: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The use of personal preferences and gut feeling in locating archaeological test units.
involution: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A structure that develops within the active layer of the Periglacial (permafrost) zone. Cryoturbation (seasonal freezing) causes movement within the layer and sorting of its component materials. Involutions help to define the area of ancient periglacial zones but their action can cause disturbance or mixing of archaeological deposits. Involutions may also be confused with archaeological features.
Isaac, Glynn Llywelyn (1937-1985): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Palaeoanthropologist who studied the early Pleistocene of East Africa. He is credited with developing new approaches to the interpretation of very early archaeological remains.
isolate: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: One or two artifacts occurring by themselves and not associated with an archaeological site; generally thought to represent items lost or discarded by people as they moved through an area.
isolated data: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A single object that is found without association to any other artifact or feature; typically lost during travel or moved by a relic hunter. Any unassociated archaeological remains.
isometric drawing: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: isometric and axonometric projection
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Projections in which the plan and the elevations are combined to give a 'three-dimensional' view, on which correct measurements can be taken either in any direction (isometric) or along two or three axes (axonometric). This three-dimensional rendering, usually of a feature or a site, is used to record and reconstruct the results of archaeological research. In contrast to perspective drawings, isometric drawings maintain a constant scale in all three dimensions.
Israelites: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A branch of Semitic people of nomadic origin who emerged in the Levant at the start of the Iron Age, c 1200 BC. This emergence is identified with a shift of settlement, small villages dispersed in upland regions replacing urban life. They are said to have been led by Moses from Egypt to the Promised Land of Palestine. They conquered the Canaanites and the Philistines in some areas and created a powerful monarchy with its capital at Jerusalem in the 10th century BC. The Canaanites retained control of the coastal area, however. Shortly thereafter, it split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, later to be destroyed, respectively, by the Assyrians in 722 BC and Babylonians in 587 BC. Although there exists a wealth of documentary evidence for the Israelites in the Bible, they are difficult to identify in the archaeological record. The major building works of the united kingdom belong to the reign of Solomon.
Izmir: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Smyrna
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: City on the west coast of Turkey, one of the oldest cities of the Mediterranean world and has been of almost continuous historical importance during the last 5,000 years. Excavations indicate settlement contemporary with that of the first city of Troy, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. Greek settlement is first attested by pottery dating from c 1000 BC. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Greek city was founded by Aeolians but soon was seized by Ionians. By the 7th century, it had massive fortifications and blocks of two-storied houses. Captured by Alyattes of Lydia c 600 BC, it disappeared for about 300 years until it was refounded by either Alexander the Great or his lieutenants in the 4th century BC at a new site on and around Mount Pagus. It soon emerged as one of the principal cities of Asia Minor and was later the center of a civil diocese in the Roman province of Asia, vying with Ephesus and Pergamum for the title first city of Asia." Smyrna was one of the early seats of Christianity. Capital of the province of Samos under the Byzantine emperors Smyrna was taken by the Turkmen Aydin principality in the early 14th century AD. It was annexed to the Ottoman Empire c 1425. Although severely damaged by earthquakes in 1688 and 1778 it remained a prosperous Ottoman port with a large European population. The city's landmarks include the partly excavated remains of its agora and the ancient aqueducts of Kizilçullu. The archaeological museum has a fine collection of local antiquities."
Juan knife: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A long flake with abrupt blunting retouch along one margin. Ethnographic specimens have handgrips of skin or resin and are documented from western, central, and eastern Queensland, Australia. They are very rare in archaeological contexts and are only known from the last few hundred years.
Jute: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A branch of the Germanic peoples who, with the Angles and Saxons, invaded Britain in the 5th century AD. There is evidence that their home was in the Scandinavian area (probably Jutland). According to the Venerable Bede, the Jutes settled in Kent, the Isle of Wight, and parts of Hampshire. There is archaeological evidence to confirm Bede's statement that the Isle of Wight and Kent were settled by the same people, and their presence in Hampshire is confirmed by place-names. The proximity of their settlements to the continent led to a development of cross-Channel trade and close cultural links with the Franks of the lower Rhine. One result was the increase in wealth of Kent, as typified by the justly famous garnet-inlaid jewelry. Their capital was in Canterbury.
Kalambo Falls: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site on the Zambia-Tanzania border at the southeast corner of Lake Tanganyika which has yielded one of the longest archaeological sequences (100,000 years) in sub-Saharan Africa and important pollen and radiocarbon data. The ancient lake deposits preserved objects from the Stone and Iron Ages. The oldest deposit contained Late Acheulian tools, dating to the late Middle Pleistocene. Wooden objects, food remains, and evidence that man was already using fire have been found. Pollen preserved in the deposits indicates that the local late Acheulian climate was cooler and wetter than that of today. The sequence continued with Sangoan (radiocarbon dated to 50,000-40,000 BC), followed by Early Middle Stone Age (Lupemban, 30,000 BC) industries related to those of the Congo, then Magosian, and a microlith-using Late Stone Age culture of Wilton type, and finally (from mid-4th century AD) remains of early agricultural and iron-using peoples who were probably of Bantu stock. Early Iron Age occupation of the Kalambo basin appears to have been established by the 4th century AD and to have continued through much of the 1st millennium.
Kidder, Alfred Vincent (1885-1963): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: A pioneering American archaeologist working in the US southwest. He carried out stratigraphical and seriation excavations, notably of the Pueblo at Pecos, New Mexico, and combined stratigraphy with pottery typology to produce the first synthesis of southwestern prehistory. It has since been refined by dendrochronology, but it still provides the framework. Kidder's research forms the basis of nearly all later studies in the area. He later did archaeological surveys and excavations for the Maya program of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He worked at Kaminaljuyú and Uaxactún. He was hailed for his multidisciplinary approach to archaeology and for changing American archaeology from antiquarianism to scientific discipline.
kill site: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: kill-site
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any archaeological site that was primarily used for killing and butchering animals. It is recognized by its distinctive location, tools assemblages, or animal bone evidence. These sites are also recognized through taphonomy.
kline: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A Greek couch with a headboard and sometimes a footboard, used for reclining during the Symposium. Their placement in dining rooms is revealed on archaeological sites by the placement of entrance doors.
Kon-Tiki: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A replica of a balsa raft constructed by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 to test the hypothesis that South American Indians could have drifted into Polynesia. This was the type of raft used in the 16th century AD along the coasts of Ecuador and northern Peru. He sailed the raft from South America to the Tuamotu Archipelago to show that Indians could have reached Polynesia. Archaeological evidence, however, has shown that any contacts were only of a minor nature.
Kremlin: CATEGORY: structure; site
DEFINITION: The fortified citadel of medieval Russia. The term also applies to those in medieval Slavic towns. The most famous and best-preserved is the one in Moscow, which is a rare stone-built example. Within it lie a variety of palaces, churches and state buildings in a range of styles spanning the 14th-18th centuries. Archaeological work has revealed that in 1156 Prince Dolgoruky built the first fortifications -- ditches and earthen ramparts topped by a wooden wall with blockhouses. The origin of the word kremlin is disputed; some authorities suggest Greek words for citadel" or "steepness others the early Russian word krem, meaning a conifer providing timber suitable for building. The fortified enclosure of the Kremlin, the symbol of first Russian and later Soviet power and authority. Its crenellated red brick walls and 20 towers were built at the end of the 15th century, by Italian builders hired by Ivan III the Great.
Kroeber, Alfred Louis (1876-1960): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: American anthropologist who made great contributions to American Indian ethnology; to the archaeology of New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru; and to the study of linguistics, folklore, kinship, and social structure. He was one of the small group of scholars whose work laid the basis of New World archaeology as a scientific discipline. His first work was in preparing a typological seriation of potsherds from Zuñi sites of the American southwest, and his work, together with that of Kidder and Nelson in the same area, showed how archaeological methods could reveal time depth and cultural change in North America. From 1921, Kroeber applied the same techniques to Max Uhle's Peruvian collections. He worked out a scheme for Peruvian archaeology which formed the basis of all studies of the subject for the next 20 years. Kroeber explored much of the Peruvian coast, especially the Nasca Valley where he made the first-ever stratigraphic excavation of a Peruvian midden. Kroeber continued to write about the ethnology of North American Indians and also concentrated on theoretical aspects of anthropology, in particular the processes of culture change. His Configurations of Culture Growth" (1945) sought to trace the growth and decline of all of civilized man's thought and art. "The Nature of Culture" (1952) was a collection of Kroeber's essays published on such topics as cultural theory kinship social psychology and psychoanalysis."
Larsa: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: modern Senkera or Tall Sankarah
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The most important city of southern Mesopotamia during the early Old Babylonian period, one of the city-states of Sumer. It was located on the Euphrates River between Ur and Babylon, southeast of Uruk, southern Iraq. Archaeological remains are found in a group of tells, though most of its history has been recovered from documents from other sites. It emerged as a city-state during the Early Dynastic period, and its period of greatness was in the early 2nd millennium BC, when it contested the supremacy of Mesopotamia with Isin, Assur, and Eshnunna. The first great ruler was Naplanum (reigned c 2025-2005 BC), who was succeeded by 13 kings. Its greatest ruler, Rim Sin, destroyed Isin c 1794 BC but was himself overthrown by Hammurabi of Babylon c 1763. Remains include a ziggurat, a temple to the sun god, and a palace of Nur-Adad (c 1865-1850 BC), as well as many tombs and other remains of the Neo-Babylonian and Seleucid periods. The documented settlement history of the site spans from the late 3rd millennium (Ur III) to the mid-1st millennium (Neo-Babylonian) BC.
Lascaux: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Magdalenian cave in the Dordogne, southwest France, with a spectacular collection of Palaeolithic paintings and engravings. Once the cave was opened to visitors, the delicate atmospheric balance was disturbed and the paintings were attacked by fungus; it was closed to the public in 1963. A small number of archaeological finds from inside the cave probably date to the early Magdalenian including lamps. A Neanderthal skeleton was found a few hundred meters away at Regoudou. There are 600 paintings of aurochs, horses, deer, and signs, accompanied by 1500 engravings dominated by horses. Some of the paintings in the rotunda, especially the bulls, approach life size, which is unusual in cave art. A number of paintings are in two contrasting colors, red iron oxide and black manganese dioxide. It was probably never inhabited, but was used from c 15,000 BC. A nearby facsimile cave, Lascaux II, is now open to the public.
law of stratigraphical succession: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A unit of archaeological stratification takes its place in the stratigraphic sequence of a site from its position between the undermost / earliest of the units which lie above it and the uppermost / latest of all the units which lie below it and with which the unit has a physical contact.
Layard, Sir Austen Henry (1817-1894): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British excavator and explorer -- one of the earliest in Mesopotamia. His most important discoveries were at Nimrud, which he identified wrongly as Nineveh. The Assyrian winged bulls and reliefs he excavated from the massive palace complexes are now in the British Museum. At Nineveh proper (modern Kuyunjik), he recovered a library of cuneiform tablets from Sennacherib's palace. His book on his finds, Nineveh and its Remains" (1849) ranks as one of the first archaeological bestsellers. He also excavated at Assur Babylon and Nippur."
Leakey, Louis Seymour Bazett (1903-1972): SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: L.S.B. Leakey
CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Kenyan-born British archaeologist and anthropologist whose brilliant career was devoted to the recovery and interpretation of the bones and tools of early man and his forebears in East Africa. His name is particularly associated with Olduvai Gorge and Homo habilis, and his work was extended and continued by his wife Mary and son Richard. As a geologist and paleontologist, he clarified the paleoclimatic scale of the Pleistocene. His intensive early Hominid research in East Africa included finds of Australopithecus boisei (Zinjanthropus) and Homo habilis, dating to c 1.75 million years ago. These discoveries proved that man was far older than had previously been believed and that human evolution was centered in Africa, rather than in Asia, as earlier discoveries had suggested. Leakey was also noted for his controversial interpretations of these archaeological finds. He was also instrumental in persuading Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey to undertake their pioneering long-term studies of chimpanzees and gorillas, respectively, in those animals' natural habitats. Leakey wrote Adam's Ancestors" (1934; rev. ed. 1953) "Stone-Age Africa" (1936) "White African" (1937) "Olduvai Gorge" (1952) "Mau Mau and the Kikuyu" (1952) "Olduvai Gorge 1951-61" (1965) "Unveiling Man's Origins" (1969; with Jane Goodall) and "Animals of East Africa" (1969)."
letter: CATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: A type of writing preserved in the archaeological record: sometimes the originals have survived in the form of papyri, ostraca, and wooden boards, but in many cases stelae, inscriptions, or temple archives incorporate transcriptions of letters. Letters were also written to the dead; relatives of deceased often sought to communicate to them by writing letters, asking for help or forgiveness.
level bag: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A, usually paper, sack containing archaeological objects from a single horizontal level within a single excavation square. Finds are usually grouped by type (by artifact classes, bones, plant remains, charcoal) and put into labeled (plastic) bags inside the level bag.
line level: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A small spirit-bubble designed for suspension from a string; often used to lay in horizontal lines across an archaeological site. It is not as accurate as transit-defined vertical provenience.
Lipari: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An acropolis site on Lipari island of the Aeolian Islands off the north coast of Sicily. Occupation started in the Neolithic c 4000 BC, when obsidian was exploited. In the Bronze Age, Lipari became an important trading center. Mycenaean pottery has been found dating to 1500-1250 BC. The remains of Hellenistic buildings indicate its importance in Classical times. The volcanoes have created is one of the finest stratigraphies of archaeological deposits anywhere. Later in prehistory, Lipari remained important because of its strategic position, which allowed communities positioned there to control trade routes through the Straits of Messina and up the west coast of Italy. The site was abandoned some time in the 9th century BC and not reoccupied until the foundation of a Greek settlement by a mixed group of Cnidians and Rhodians in the early 6th century BC.
lithofacies analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique used to identify and interpret depositional environments in which archaeological deposits are found. The lithofacies are determined by geometry, vertical sequences, and lateral associations. Lithofacies models or maps, generalized summaries of sediment characteristics of specific depositional environments, serve as guides to interpretation. Such a map shows variation in the overall lithologic character of a given stratigraphic unit and its changing composition throughout its geographic extent.
lithophone: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: stone chimes; phonoliths
CATEGORY: geology; lithics
DEFINITION: Naturally occurring stones, often stalactites or stalagmites, which were struck to make music since Palaeolithic times. It is a set of struck sonorous stones (individually called phonoliths) found from the South Seas and South America to Africa and the Far East. Large stones were used in some Vietnamese religious temples and one of the oldest surviving lithophones was discovered there. Remains of other ancient stones come from Chinese archaeological digs, and such instruments are mentioned in sources as early as the Chou dynasty (c. 1122-256/255 BC).
living floor: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: living surface
CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: A layer of human occupation; this generic and imprecise term is applied to an assumed level of occupation within an archaeological site. It includes any surface that indicates use as a house or camp area, as evidenced by signs of cooking, sleeping, or working at household tasks. The area can be within a cave or structure or out in the open -- anywhere everyday human activities took place. Ancient living floors have occasionally been preserved through the accumulation of soil and debris over them.
locus: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pl. loci
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A predicted archaeological site locality; a center of cultural activity. The term is also applied to a distinct portion of an archaeological site, typically separated from other parts of the site by space devoid of cultural materials. Many open-air sites consist of various loci spread over a relatively large area.
loess: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A wind-borne rock dust (very fine sediments, silt) carried from outwash deposits and moraines and laid down as a thick stratum during periglacial conditions in the steppe country surrounding the ice sheets. Wind erosion was widespread in the periglacial zone that surrounded the large Quaternary ice sheets. Material was picked up by the wind from the large expanses of proglacial deposits at the ice sheet margins. Because of its exceptional fertility, areas of loess were chosen for settlement by early agriculturists. In central and eastern Europe, as well as Asia and North America, there are notable concentrations of sites on loess. It provided good grazing for the animals on which Palaeolithic man fed, was rich in nutrients for plants, and was later settled by Neolithic farmers who found it easy to till with primitive equipment. It is an essentially unconsolidated, unstratified calcareous silt; commonly it is homogeneous, permeable, and buff to gray in color, and contains calcareous concretions and fossils. Loess is important archaeologically as soil erosion in these regions during the Holocene caused substantial redeposition of this silt, often burying (deeply) and preserving archaeological sites. In semiarid regions people such as the Pueblo Indians made houses and fortresslike closed edifices from loess-based adobe.
Lombards: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A tribe of Germanic descent who conquered northern Italy in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. The region was weak from the gothic wars and vulnerable by the death of the Emperor Justinian (565). Having swept through Venice, Milan, Tuscany, and Benevento, King Alboin established Pavia, on the Ticino River, as the capital of the newly created Lombard kingdom in 572. Although their territorial expansion extended as far south as Benevento, the Lombards never managed to gain complete control of the peninsula. Many major Byzantine cities fell to them but the Eastern Empire maintained a firm hold in the coastal ports of Ravenna and Venice. The Lombards' impact was considerable and they imposed distinct cultural traditions on Italy's decaying classical past. They made rich inlaid gold jewelry, fine sculpture, and created new architectural design which played a significant part in the development of the Romanesque style. The Lombard settlement seems to have been largely to the north of the Po River, the area with the majority of Lombard place-names and Germanic-style archaeological finds, mainly from cemetery sites. The Lombard language seems to have disappeared by the 8th century, leaving few loanwords in the Italian language. When the Franks invaded, Lombards and Romans moved together still more as a conquered, by now Italian people.
longhouse / long house: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: In Neolithic times, an elongated (oblong) wooden post house that appeared in central Europe with the first farming communities within the Early Neolithic Bandkeramik cultures, about 4500-3000 BC, as well as the later Iron Age, about 100 BC-500 AD, of north-central Europe. It also applies to the Late Woodland cultures of northeast North America, about 1300-1600 AD, especially the Iroquois and Huron. Life in the longhouse had ended by 1800, but the meeting room of the contemporary tribe continues to be called the longhouse. In North American antiquity, longhouses were divided into living quarters for a number of groups. In Europe, structures may have been multipurpose buildings for dwellings and livestock stables. Among the most famous are those of the Linear Pottery culture, which reach lengths of up to 40 meters. Archaeologically, the two halves of the long house are often distinguished by the existence of a hearth in the living quarters, a central drain, and sometimes stalls in the byre. The purpose of the European long house was to keep stock during the wet winter months, and at the same time to provide dwelling for the farmers. In Upper Palaeolithic times, the long house was an elongated above-ground structure of up to 100 meters in length, with a central series of hearths. The walls and roofing were probably supported by wooden poles and large mammal bones. Remains of these have been found in Kostenki, Pushkari, and Avdeevo.
loom: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A device used for weaving cloth. Normally the variety of loom used can be deduced from surviving fragments of the resulting cloth. The cloth shows, for example, that the horizontal loom was the more usual in ancient Egypt, the vertical loom in Syria and Mesopotamia. In Europe, the vertical loom with weighted warps was standard. The weights -- disk-shaped, quoit-shaped, or pyramidal -- are frequently found on sites from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age and reappear with the Anglo-Saxons. In the Americas, the most common form was the belt or backstrap loom, in which a continuous warp thread passed between two horizontal poles. One was attached to a support while the other was attached to the seated weaver, who could adjust the tension of the warps simply by leaning forward or backward. The earliest evidence of the use of the loom, 4400 BC, is a representation of a horizontal two-bar (or two-beamed--i.e., warp beam and cloth beam) loom pictured on a pottery dish found at al-Badari, Egypt. Loom weights have been found at archaeological sites dating from 3000 BC, but this type of loom may have originated even earlier. By about 2500 BC, a more advanced loom was apparently evolving in East Asia.
looting: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any unscientific and illegal act of plundering archaeological sites for profit. Looters destroy evidence that archaeologists rely upon to understand the past.
lot number: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The number assigned to an archaeological collection that identifies an aspect of context within a collection; part of the catalog number.
lot system: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A method of archaeological recordkeeping in which all artifacts and ecofacts found together in a single horizontally and vertically defined unit are combined into one group (lot) for the purposes of collection and analysis.
lot-locus system: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A method of archaeological recordkeeping that adds a secondary horizontally and vertically defined unit (locus) to the lot system, such that the artifacts and ecofacts found in each locus are collected in separate lots.
Lower Nubia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The part of the Nile Valley south of the traditional border of Egypt at Aswan as far as the Second Cataract of the Nile River. The region of Lower Nubia, basically between the first and second Nile cataracts, saw one of the earliest phases of state formation in the world when rulers of the A-Group culture, who were buried in a cemetery at Qustul, adopted symbols of kingship similar to those of contemporary kings of Egypt of the Naqadah II-III period. Lower Nubia is now one of the most thoroughly explored archaeological regions of the world. Most of its many temples have been moved, either to higher ground nearby, as happened to Abu Simbel and Philae, or to quite different places, including various foreign museums.
Lumbini: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A grove near the southern border of modern-day Nepal, India, where, according to Buddhist legend, Queen Maha Maya stood and gave birth to the future Buddha. Archaeological finds include Northern Black-Polished Ware, which was in use during the period of the Buddha's lifetime. In c 249 BC the emperor Asoka made a pilgrimage to Lumbini and set up a commemorative pillar which still survives. It is still a popular Buddhist pilgrimage place.
Lycia: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Lycians; Luka
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Ancient kingdom of southwestern Anatolia (Turkey), located on the Mediterranean coast between Caria and Pamphylia and extending to the Taurus Mountains, with its capital in Xanthos. In the Amarna letters of the 14th-13th centuries BC, the Lycians are described as living between the Hittites on the north and the Achaean Greeks on the coast. They participated in the Sea Peoples' attempt to invade Egypt in the late 13th century. Nothing more is known of the Lycians until the 8th century BC, when they reappear as a thriving maritime people in cities of the Lycian League. The kingdom eventually fell to Cyrus' general Harpagus. Under Achaemenian Persia and later under the rule of the Romans, Lycia enjoyed relative freedom and was able to preserve its federal institutions until the time of Augustus. It was annexed to Roman Pamphylia in 43 AD and became a separate Roman province after the 4th century. Archaeological discoveries made on sites at Xanthus, Patara, Myra, and other of its cities have revealed a distinctive type of funerary architecture. The people spoke a dialect of Indo-European Luwian. Sir Charles Fellows discovered the ruins of the cities of Lycia.
Mössbauer spectroscopy: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique used in the analysis of artifact composition, particularly iron-bearing minerals in pottery. It involves the measurement of the gamma radiation absorbed by the iron nuclei, which provides information on the particular iron compounds in the sample, and hence on the conditions of firing when the pottery was being made. Samples are bombarded with gamma rays and a record made of the detected amount of absorption by iron nuclei. The use of this method of physical analysis has been confined mainly to the examination of iron compounds, though other uses have been suggested. The Mössbauer effect of recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma rays only occurs with a limited number of isotopes, of which one of the iron isotopes is useful in archaeological contexts. Because of its sensitivity to short-range crystalline order, the technique is better for examining poorly crystallized iron-bearing minerals than X-ray diffraction. This type of spectroscopy is also used for the study of nuclear hyperfine structure, chemical shifts, and chemical analysis.
Macassans: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Indonesian traders, particularly from Sulawesi, who visited tropical Australia during the Indonesian monsoon season. They collected and processed sea-slugs (trepang, bêche-de-mer, sea cucumber), an important ingredient in their cooking. Archaeological evidence consists of stone structures used to support boiling vats, scatters of Indonesian potsherds, ash concentrations from smokehouses, graves, and living tamarind trees descended from seeds brought by the trepangers. Their cultural legacies to the Aborigines included metal tools, dugout canoes, vocabulary, art motifs, song cycles, rituals, and depictions of Macassan praus in rock paintings and stone arrangements. Macassan voyagers to Australia arrived around 1700 AD and continued till the end of the 19th century.
macrofloral remains: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: macrobotanical remains
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Those plant remains from archaeological sites that are visible to the naked eye, primarily seeds and charcoal.
macrofossils: CATEGORY: flora; fauna
DEFINITION: Large-scale floral or faunal remains recovered from an archaeological excavation, cf. microfossils.
magnetic dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: paleomagnetic dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any theoretically chronometric dating technique which uses the thermo-remanent magnetism of certain types of archaeological material. These methods use the known changes have taken place in the direction and intensity of the earth's magnetic field. Magnetic minerals present in clay and rocks each have its own magnetic orientation. When heated to the so-called blocking temperature, the original magnetic orientation of the particles is destroyed, and they will take on the orientation of the earth's magnetic field in a fixed alignment -- which does not alter after cooling. These methods are most suitable for kilns and hearths. Once the direction of the archaeological sample has been determined, it may be possible to date it by fitting it to the secular variation curve established for the local area. There is no universal curve, since not only the earth's main field varies, but there are also local disturbances. Since the dating of the curve has to be constructed through independent dating techniques, and these are not available for every area, there are not established curves for every region. As a dating technique, it is strictly limited to those areas where dated curves have been established. A more recent dating technique using thermo-remanent magnetism is palaeointensity dating (archaeomagnetic intensity dating). The principle is that the thermo-remanent magnetism in burnt clay is proportional to the intensity of the magnetic field acting on the clay as it cools down. The measurement of its intensity, and a comparison with the intensity revealed by reheating in today's magnetic field, gives a ratio for the past and present fields which can be used to establish a curve of variation in the earth's magnetic field intensity. The method promises to be useful since direction in situ is not required and it can therefore be used for pottery and other artifacts as well as hearths and kilns.
magnetic surveying: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: electromagnetic surveying
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique for the location of archaeological features adapted from techniques used in geological surveying. It is based on the fact that features with thermo-remanent magnetism, like hearths or kilns, or features with a high humus content, like pits or ditches, and iron objects, distort the earth's magnetic field from the normal. Instruments such as the proton magnetometer or the differential fluxgate gradiometer are used to measure those disturbances, and by plotting the results, a map of the features can be built. The ways in which the different types of feature distort the magnetic field vary, though they can all be picked up on the same instrument. Hematite or magnetic, present in most clays, have a small magnetic effect when unburnt, since the grains point in random directions and cancel each other out. Once heated to about 700? C or more, the grains line up, increasing the magnetic effect and causing an anomaly in the magnetic field. This thermo-remanent magnetism is also the basis for magnetic dating. The presence of modern iron as in wire fences can cause problems with this technique of location; if the area to be surveyed is clearly crossed with power lines or fenced with iron posts, a resistivity survey may be more suitable. The method of surveying used requires a grid to be measured out on the site and readings to be taken at regular intervals. The nature of the site may prevent such a grid being laid out, for instance if it is heavily wooded, and magnetic survey may not be possible on these sites. It is one of the most commonly used geophysical surveying methods.
magnetometer: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: proton magnetometer
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A geophysical instrument that measures the intensity and sometimes direction of the Earth's magnetic field. It is used in electromagnetic surveying to identify changes in the field within soil or sediment that might be caused by subsurface features, hearths, kilns, or metal artifacts. When a current is passed through a coil in a bottle of water or alcohol the protons of the hydrogen atoms align themselves to its magnetic field. When the current is cut off, the protons realign themselves according to the earth's field, its strength being indicated by the frequency of their gyration on realignment. This sets up a weak current which is transmitted back from the bottle to the instrument and there registered on dials. The resulting figures are plotted to reveal anomalies in field strength -- usually due to buried iron, kilns, hearths, or to pits or ditches. These features can thus be rapidly located without disturbance of the ground, and excavation can be directed to the most promising areas. Magnetrometry is the use of a magnetometer for mapping subsurface anomalies. There are a number of designs, but two are particularly widely used. The proton magnetometer makes an absolute measurement of field strength, but is intermittent in operation: each reading is initiated by the push of a button, and takes some seconds to appear on the display of the instrument. Fluxgate magnetometers work on a different principle, and give a continuous reading, which makes surveying less time-consuming. Most fluxgate machines do not however measure field strength directly, but rather are gradiometers, measuring the vertical gradient of the earth's' magnetic field, i.e. how fast the field strength changes with vertical distance from the earth's magnetic field Gradient measurements can also be used in archaeological surveys and have an advantage over absolute measurements. The earth's field strength varies continuously during the day at any one location. Absolute measurements taken at different times have to be calibrated for this effect if they are to be comparable. Gradient measurements are not affected by this diurnal drift in field strength, and so do not need to be calibrated. Proton gradiometers are also available. The fluxgate, differential fluxgate, and proton gradiometer take continuous measurements of relative vertical change in the intensity of field strength.
maize: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: corn
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: A tall cereal grass widely grown in Mexico, South America, and the US which originated as a staple food in Mexico about 9000 years ago. A field of maize is a milpa. No wild maize appears to exist today. The plant originated in the Central Mexican Highlands, where pollen belonging to maize, or one of its near relatives, has been found in cores from Mexico City, dated to between 60,000-80,000 bp. The earliest macrofossils of maize appear in the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico between 7000-5000 BC. These early finds have very small cobs and kernels and it has been suggested that they come from wild maize. Archaeologically, the oldest cultivated maize in Mexico is from the Coxcatlan period in the Tehuacan Valley (4800-3500 BC), and maize appears in the caves of Tamaulipas, northeast Mexico, around 3200 BC. In South America, the oldest direct evidence comes from the Valdivia culture of Ecuador, around 3000, though maize phytoliths were found in the preceding Vegas period, c 6000 BC. It was in fairly general use in the southwestern US by 1000 BC, though it did not reach the eastern Woodlands until about the time of Christ. It was an important early domesticated food plant in the New World and one of the trio which provided a balanced diet for early American farmers (the other two being beans and squash).
Makapansgat: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Makapans
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A limeworks cave at the entrance to the Makapan Valley in northern Transvaal, South Africa, with important samples of Autralopithecus africanus and other fossil animal remains (antelope, baboon. Perhaps the best-known so-called archaeological evidence from the South African cave sites came from Makapansgat. There are no typical stone tools, but many bone and horn fragments are alleged to have been modified as tools, the so-called osteodontokeratic" (bone-tooth-horn) culture. The hominid remains may date from about three million years ago. The nearby Cave of Hearths has Acheulian and later deposits."
Manetho (c. 305-285 BC): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: An Egyptian priest and historian who wrote a history of his country in the 3rd century BC. Though the work is lost, quotations from it in later writings are extremely important for reconstructing the dynastic lists of the pharaohs. The history was probably written in Greek for Ptolemy I (305-282). He provided the basis for the relative chronology of Egypt before the invasion of Alexander the Great. The fragments of his work confirmed the succession of kings where the archaeological evidence was inconclusive, and Manetho's division of the rulers of Egypt into 30 dynasties is still accepted.
manioc: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cassava, yuca
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: A starchy root plant native to the tropical lowland zone of South America, where it was cultivated along with other root crops. Its origin may have been in Venezuela before 2500 BC and it became established in the Andes and reached the Peruvian coast before 2000 BC. Manioc can grow under various conditions, but only in the lowland forest did manioc retain its position as the main food plant. On archaeological sites, large clay disks are often interpreted as griddles on which were baked flat cakes made of a flour prepared by roasting grated manioc roots and juice-catching pots for the prussic acid they contain. The plant underwent elaborate detoxification process (including grating, pulping, draining and finally cooking) before consumption. It was the staple diet throughout most of Amazonia and the Caribbean at the time of European contact. Manioc is the source of tapioca.
mapping: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The scaled recording of the horizontal position of exposed features and, in some cases, artifacts and ecofacts, using standardized symbols. It is one of the two basic ground survey methods used in surface survey of archaeological sites, the other being surface collection.
Marpole culture: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An archaeological complex in Canada, dating c 500 BC-1500 AD; the type site is at the mouth of the Fraser River in British Columbia. Its distinctive traits include flaked-stone points, microblades, ground-slate points and fish knives, and disc beads of shell and shale. Antler was used for barbed point and harpoon making. There were midden burials, some with plentiful grave goods. It probably evolved from the Locarno Beach culture.
Marshall, Sir John (1876-1958) (DISPUTED d. 1959): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British archaeologist who worked in India as Director-General of Archaeological Survey in India and who was part of revealing India's long prehistory. He excavated at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and at sites of the Indus Civilization. He discovered much about the Chalcolithic cultures preceding it. He was also interested in Alexander's campaign and in Graeco-Buddhist monuments at Sanchi, and Taxila.
Marshalltown trowel: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: Renowned trowel made in Iowa, used by many archaeologists. The city is the future site of the Archaeological Hall of Fame.
Maspero, Gaston Camille Charles (1846-1916): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: French Egyptologist who succeeded August Mariette as Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service and who edited the first 50 volumes of the immense catalog of the collection there. He excavated numerous sites from Saqqara to the Valley of the Kings. At Deir el Bahari (Dayr al-Bahri), he came upon fabulous collection of 40 royal mummies, s, including those of the pharaohs Seti I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose III, and Ramses II, in inscribed sarcophagi, as well as a profusion of decorative and funerary artifacts. Maspero's intensive study of these findings was published in Les Momies royales de Deir-el-Bahari" (1889; "The Royal Mummies of Dayr al-Bahri"). He also published an account of the Nubian monuments threatened by construction of first Aswan Dam. He helped found the Egyptian Museum in 1902. During his second tenure as director general (1899-1914) Maspero regulated excavations tried to prevent illicit trade in antiquities sought to preserve and strengthen monuments and directed the archaeological survey of Nubia. His writings include "Histoire ancienne des peoples de l'Orient classique". (1895-97; "Ancient History of the Peoples of the Classic Orient") "L'Archéologie égyptienne" (1887; "Egyptian Archaeology") "Les Contes populaires de l'Égypte ancienne" (4th ed. 1914; "Popular Tales of Ancient Egypt") and "Causeries d'Égypte" (1907; "New Light on Ancient Egypt")."
Matopo: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Southern Rhodesian Wilton; Khami industry
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Microlithic Later Stone Age industry of the Matopo Hills, southwestern Zimbabwe, dated to 6000 BC. The hills are associated with folklore and tradition, some being venerated as dwelling places of the spirits of departed Ndebele chiefs. The hills contain gigantic caves with Khoisan paintings, and there are Stone and Iron Age archaeological sites.
matrix: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: plural matrices or matrixes
CATEGORY: feature; term
DEFINITION: The soil or physical material in which an excavation is conducted, or within which artifacts or fossils are embedded or supported. The term also refers to the surrounding deposit in which archaeological finds are situated. Originally the term described the grains in sediments or rocks that are finer than the coarsest material in the sediment or rock. Matrix is the material within which cultural debris is contained.
mean: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: In mathematics, a quantity that has a value intermediate between those of the extreme members of some set. In archaeological technique, it is a measure of central tendency in a distribution. The arithmetic mean is the sum of all values, divided by the number of cases. Other measures of central tendency include the mode -- the most commonly occurring value -- and the median -- the value in the middle of the distribution's range.
Mechta-Afalou: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Mechta Afalou
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The name given to a modern human physical type represented in the archaeological record of the Maghreb, especially on Ibero-Maurusian sites and associated with bladelet industries in the Nile Valley. Cemeteries such as those at Columnata and Afalou bou Rhummel have yielded large numbers of skeletons. The people were of medium height, robustly built, and with a mean cranial capacity of around 1650 cc. Remains from earlier periods suggest that the Mechta-Afalou population was of stock indigenous to northwestern Africa. Mechtoid-related forms are restricted to the western and central Sahara during the last 10,000 years and are considered a North African branch of Cro-Magnon man.
Melanesia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The region comprising New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, and minor intermediate groups. Early Australoid settlers reached New Guinea when it was joined to Australia, by at least 30,000-40,000 years ago, and the New Guinea Highlands have a long, stable archaeological sequence extending into the Holocene (Kospie, Kiowa, Kafianvana). The Highlands may also have seen an independent development of early Holocene horticulture (Kuk). The Bismarcks and Solomons (Kilu) seem to have been occupied by c 30,000 bp. Settlement of the rest of Melanesia may have occurred as part of the expansion of Austronesian speakers in the Pacific. Major archaeological entities include the Lapita culture and the Manaasi pottery tradition.
Melka Kontoure: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in Ethiopia some 50 km south of Addis Ababa, with many archaeological levels dating from over 1.5 million years old at the base to late Pleistocene times. Its long stone artifact sequence included Oldowan, Acheulian, Middle Stone Age, and Microlithic Later Stone Age. A few hominid fragments have been found, but it is the long succession of artifact assemblages and living floors which make the site important.
Meluhha: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The ancient Akkadian name for the Indus region. It was a land which traded with the city-states of Sumer, to its west, and appeared in Mesopotamian texts of the Akkadian and Ur III periods. The land was described as a source of gold and is usually identified as the area of the Harappan civilization in western India and Pakistan during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. In the 1st millennium BC, Meluhha refers to Nubia, to the south of Egypt. Literary references to Meluhhan trade date from the Akkadian, Ur III, and Isin- Larsa Periods (i.e., c. 2350-1800 BC), but as texts and archaeological data indicate, the trade probably started in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2600 BC). During the Akkadian period, Meluhhan vessels sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, but by the Isin-Larsa Period, Dilmun (modern Bahrain) was the entrepôt for Meluhhan and Mesopotamian traders. By the subsequent Old Babylonian period, trade between the two cultures evidently had ceased entirely.
Mesara: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Large, fertile southern plain of Crete, exploited since the later Neolithic. The Minoan palace of Phaistos and Gortyn, the capital of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, are the two main archaeological sites. The tholoi, or beehive tombs, were developed on the Mesara plain.
mesh: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The netting of an archaeological sifter, esp. the coarseness or spacing of the strands of the net; (with preceding numeral) a measure of this, usually indicating the number of openings per unit length, or the largest size of particles that can pass through the grid
Mesopotamia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Term meaning land between the (two) rivers" the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in western Asia (modern Iraq) which encompasses various ancient kingdoms. This land was the home of the world's earliest civilization that of the Sumerians and of the later Babylonian Akkadian and Assyrian civilizations. The chronology of the prehistoric periods is based on radiocarbon dates; the historical periods' chronology is based on a combination of documentary sources and calendrical information. The area was the focus of the development of complex societies until the collapse of Mesopotamia at the end of the 1st millennium BC. The geography of the area allowed the development of husbandry agriculture and permanent settlements. Trade with other regions also flourished irrigation techniques were created as well as pottery and other crafts building methods based on clay bricks were developed and elaborate religious cults evolved. The birth of the city took place in the 4th millennium BC and the invention of writing occurred about 3000 BC -- both in Sumer. Excavations of Sumerian cities (Eridu Kish Uruk Isin Lagash Ur) have yielded thousands of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing. Sargon the king of Akkad fought wars of conquest from the Mediterranean to the Zagros and ruled over history's first empire. The Akkadians were a Semitic people and their Akkadian language became the common vocabulary. The Akkadian rule only about two centuries. After that Ur (c 2112-2004 BC) the parallel dynasties of Isin and Larsa (to c 1763 BC) and then Babylon were the powers. The outstanding ruler of Babylon was Hammurabi (c 1792-1750 BC) who is best known for the code of laws he had inscribed on a great stela. From about 1600-1450 BC Babylonian culture declined as the Hurrians and the Kassites migrated into Mesopotamia and established themselves as rulers. Some time after 1500 BC the Mitanni kingdom extended its rule over much of northern Mesopotamia. The language of the kingdom was Hurrian but its rulers may have been of Aryan origin. Toward the end of the 15th century BC the city of Ashur in northern Mesopotamia a region that came to be known as Assyria began its rise. By 1350 BC the Assyrian empire was well-established and its kings conquered large areas from the Mitanni kingdom the Kassites and the Hittites. Another Babylonian dynasty known as the 2nd dynasty of Isin revived the greatness of the Old Empire under Nebuchadrezzar I (c 1119-1098). Assyria reached new heights of power under Tiglath-pileser I (c 1115-1077) and Ashurnasirpal II (883-859). Between 746-727 BC the Neo-Assyrian empire formed and subdued the Aramaeans who had settled much of Babylonia and then conquered Urartu Syria Israel and other areas. The empire reached its after conquering Egypt in 671 and then the reign of Ashurbanipal (668-627) but its rapid decline came soon after attacks by the Medes Scythians and Babylonians. The Assyrian empire was crushed in 609. Babylon's Nebuchadrezzar II (605-561) is best known for his destruction of Jerusalem in 588/587 and his forcing of thousands of Jews into the "Babylonian exile." The Neo-Babylonian empire ended in 539 when Nabonidus surrendered to Cyrus II of Persia. Under the Persians and Alexander the Great Babylon was a rich capital. The Seleucid kings ruled Mesopotamia from about 312 BC until the middle of the 2nd century BC. In the 2nd century BC Mesopotamia became part of the Parthian empire. Human occupation of Mesopotamia began some time around 6000 BC. The prehistoric cultural stages of Hassuna-Samarra' and Halaf succeeded each other here before there is evidence of settlement in the south (Sumer). There the earliest settlements such as Eridu appear to have been founded around 5000 BC in the late Halaf period. From then on the cultures of the north and south move through a succession of major archaeological periods that in their southern forms are known as Ubaid Warka Protoliterate and Early Dynastic at the end of which -- shortly after 3000 BC -- recorded history begins. The historical periods of the 3rd millennium are in order: Akkad Gutium 3rd dynasty of Ur; those of the 2nd millennium: Isin-Larsa Old Babylonian Kassite and Middle Babylonian; and those of the 1st millennium: Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenian Seleucid and Parthian."
microfloral remains: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: microbotanical remains
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Those plant remains from archaeological sites that are visible only with the aid of magnification, primarily pollen and phytoliths. The term is also applied to any small or strictly localized flora, as of a microenvironment.
microwear: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: microscarring
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: The patterns of edge damage on a stone tool providing archaeological evidence of the ways in which that tool was used. Microscopic scratches and polish on the surface of stone tools or hominid teeth might reveal how various tools were used or what types of food certain hominids ate.
midden: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: kitchen midden
CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: Any large refuse heap, mound, or concentration of cultural debris associated with human occupation. The term includes such materials as discarded artifacts (e.g. broken pots and tools), food remains, shells, bones, charcoal and ashes, -- and may include the material in which the debris is encapsulated and modifications of this matrix. Midden debris usually contains decayed organic material, bonescrap, artifacts (broken and whole), and miscellaneous detritus. Middens are a valuable source of archaeological data. The long-term disposal of refuse can result in stratified deposits, which are useful for relative dating. Sometimes the midden is a dump or trash pile separate from the residential area, but more commonly among hunters and gatherers the houses are on top of the midden itself. Some of the largest shell middens were accumulated by shore-dwellers in Mesolithic Denmark.
Middle Awash: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: River valley of northeast Ethiopia with rich Hominid fossil finds as well as archaeological sites dating from the Miocene to the Holocene. Australopithecine fossils from c 4.5-2.5 million years ago (mainly A. afarensis) and some of the oldest-known stone artifacts in the world (flaked cobble Oldowan Complex, c 3-2.5 mya) were found there.
Middle Bronze Age: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: MBA
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: In the Levant, the period of sophisticated urban civilization of the Canaanites, MBA I c 1950-1800 BC and MBA II c 1800-1550 BC. The Middle Bronze Age provides the background for the beginning of the story of the Old Testament. The archaeological evidence for the period shows new types of pottery, weapons, and burial practices. It was an urban civilization based on agriculture. There was much contact with the Phoenicians and the Egyptians during this time. The destruction of Megiddo, Jericho, and Tell Beit Mirsim that followed the Egyptians' expulsion of the Hyksos into Palestine occurred at the end of the Middle Bronze Age.
Middle Range Theory: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A conceptual framework connecting raw archaeological data with higher-level generalizations and conclusions about the past which can be derived from such evidence. A theory concerned with explaining specific issues or aspects of society instead of trying to explain how all of society operates.
Middle Stone Age: CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: The second part of the Stone Age in sub-Saharan Africa, dating from c 150,000-30,000 years ago and roughly equivalent to the Middle Palaeolithic elsewhere in the Old World. Assemblages are characterized by flakes made by preparing the core; there were many shapes and sizes of these artifacts. The characteristic tools are made on flakes produced by a developed Levalloisian technique, including slender unifacial and bifacial lances or spear points for stabbing or throwing. In the final stages of the Middle Stone Age, known as the South African Magosian, microlithic elements appear. Middle Stone Age assemblages are associated with anatomically modern Homo sapiens in southern Africa. People continued to live in open camps, while rock overhangs also were used for shelter. Middle Stone Age bands hunted medium-size and large prey. Sometimes they collected tortoises and ostrich eggs in large quantities, as well as seabirds and marine mammals that could be found along the shore. The rich archaeological deposits of Klasies River Mouth Cave preserve the earliest evidence in the world for the use of shellfish as a food source.
middle-range research: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Middle Range Theory, middle-range theory
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A set of frameworks or theories that allow the construction of accurate statements of past behavior based on the analysis of the contemporary archaeological record. It applies to any investigation aimed at linking the static data from the archaeological record with the dynamic processes that formed it. The frameworks link the archaeological record and the original activities that produced that record, allowing archaeologists to make inferences about past human behavior. It is considered by some to be the key to a scientific understanding of the archaeological record.
mitigation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: In archaeology, measures taken to minimize destruction on archaeological sites.
mobiliary art: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: home art; French art mobilier; chattel art
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A general term used to describe the small and portable objects produced by artists during the Upper Palaeolithic period. These included carved or engraved stone, bone, ivory, or antler, and small crudely fired clay models. Artifacts include figurines, artists' trial pieces, decorated weapons, tools, and ornaments. The distribution extends from Siberia to Spain. Cave art covers the paintings, engravings, and reliefs found on the walls of caves and rock shelters of the same period. Unlike wall art, which is difficult to date, mobiliary art is usually found in archaeological layers and can therefore be dated. The earliest pieces probably date to about 35,000 years ago and they continued being made throughout the Upper Palaeolithic to c 10,000 BC.
model: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A devices used by archaeologists to aid the interpretation of data; models consist of hypothetical reconstructions of dynamic processes partly based on material remains and partly testing the validity of interpretations of material culture. They are idealized representations of the real world, used to demonstrate a simplified version of some of its characteristics. Models vary in complexity and can be physical representations or literary descriptions. It might be a physical model of a site or landscape to explain some feature of its function or organization; such models at full scale are well known in experimental archaeology. A simple model might be a map showing, for example, the distribution of sites in a region or a scatter diagram showing the relationship between two measured variables. Models need not be based on specific archaeological data, but can be derived from a number of sources: invented data can be generated by computer simulation; geometrical and mathematical models can also be used, such as central place theory or the rank-size rule in the study of regional settlement, or catastrophe theory in the study of cultural collapse. General systems theory can also be a source of systems models designed to show a simplified version of the working of a complex social or economic organization. The term model can also be used in a less specific sense for any general mode of thought in which archaeological research is conducted, for example descriptive, historical, or ecological. Models may also be diachronic or synchronic. The concept of formulating a model, testing it and refining it, is frequently applied in a non-mathematical way and this is the way in which it is most often used in archaeology. In this sense it is either synonymous with 'hypothesis' or refers to a number of interlocking hypotheses.
mollusk: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: mollusc, snail shell
CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: Any of a large phylum (Mollusca) of invertebrate animals (as snails, clams, or squids) with a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a calcareous shell. Often occurring in calcareous deposits, they may give useful information if associated with archaeological remains. A group may give an indication of environmental conditions and general climatic conditions. More tentatively, a deposit containing mollusks may be dated against the geological scale. The phylum Mollusca is divided into five classes: Amphineura (chitons), Gastropoda (snails and slugs), Scaphopoda (elephant's tusk shells), Lamellibranchiata (bivalve mollusks, such as mussels, clams, oysters), and Cephalopoda (octopus and squids). With the exception of the gastropods, most of these groups are aquatic; shells of gastropods and lamellibranchs are frequently found on archaeological sites. Shells also remain from the exploitation of these animals for food, most often found in middens found near coastal sites. Land snails are increasingly used as an adjunct to pollen and insect analysis in attempts to reconstruct past environments.
Molodova: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A group of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites on the Dnestr River in western Ukraine -- with Moldova V consisting of 12+ archaeological levels spanning from c 45,000-7000 BC according to radiocarbon evidence. The occupation was not continuous. There are many Middle Palaeolithic artifacts and associated faunal remains and most of the levels date to the interstadials before the beginning of the Last Glacial. Upper Palaeolithic assemblages have a large number of burins. The sites provide a complete dated sequence of Upper Palaeolithic occupation in the Ukraine.
Mon: CATEGORY: culture; language
DEFINITION: A people in mainland Southeast Asia speaking an Austro-Asiatic language akin to Khmer, who formed the earliest states in the lower Irrawaddy valley of Burma, Chao Phraya valley, Khorat, and peninsular regions of Thailand. Their origin is unknown, but archaeological evidence indicates that at the beginning of the Christian Era the Mons must have occupied a large territory stretching from Lower Burma through into the southern part of the Indochinese Peninsula. Also called Hanthawaddy Kingdom, the Mon kingdom was powerful in Myanmar (Burma) from the 9th to the 11th and from the 13th to the 16th century and for a brief period in the mid-18th century. The capital of the Mon probably was the port of Thaton, which was located northwest of the mouth of the Salween River. The Mon center eventually shifted to Pegu, located on the Pegu River, about 50 miles from present-day Rangoon. The Mon culture was not abandoned or displaced, and the Mon blended the old with the new. The Mons are now only a small ethnic minority centered around the eastern shore of the Gulf of Martaban.
monumental architecture: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: Large buildings such as temples, palaces, and pyramids, readily identifiable in the archaeological record and assume to have been built by means of the collective labor of many people.
Mortillet, Gabriel de (1821-1898): SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Mortillet, (Louis-Laurent-Marie) Gabriel de
CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: French prehistorian who, after being a student of Edouard Lartet, proposed an alternative to Lartet's Palaeolithic classification scheme. For the palaeontological criteria of Lartet he substituted archaeological ones based on tool forms rather than faunal remains. He extended into prehistory the geological system of periods, or epochs, each characterized by a limited range of type fossils. Each period had 'type names' after a 'type site' where the diagnostic material was well represented -- such as Mousterian, Aurignacian, and Solutrean. By 1869, de Mortillet's scheme for the Stone Age had the following subdivisions: Thenaisian (for the now discredited eoliths), followed by Chellean, Mousterian, Solutrean, Aurignacian, Magdalenian, and (for the Neolithic) Robenhausian, named after a lake village -- though alterations and additions (Acheulian) were made later. With further modifications, this classification was widely adopted and remained the standard terminology for European archaeology until well into the 20th century. De Mortillet saw his epochs as periods of time or as stages of development with a universal validity, and his scheme was basically a refinement of the Three Age System. He did not allow for purely local variants within a single epoch; he divided the Palaeolithic into time periods, not cultures or traditions. This is no longer accepted and de Mortillet's epochs are now thought to represent cultures and to have local validity only. The practice of using type site names, however, proved so useful that it became standard practice. He founded, in 1864, one of the earliest archaeological journals, Matériaux pour l'Histoire positive et philosophique de l'Homme". His classifications were published in "Le Préhistorique: antiquité de l'homme" (1882; "The Prehistoric: Man's Antiquity") and in subsequent revisions."
Mount Mazama ash: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Mazama Ash
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: Volcanic ash (or tephra) originating from the eruption of Mount Mazama (Crater Lake, Oregon) nearly 7000 years ago (6600 years ago). Undisturbed beds of Mazama ash provide important contextual dates for archaeological sites throughout the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada. The eruption also produced Crater Lake in Oregon. Great thicknesses of pumice were deposited on the flanks of Mount Mazama, while finer material was blown over great distances by the winds. The widespread distribution of the Mazama Ash has made it useful in archaeological studies as a horizon, or time, marker. Studies of sediments formed in relation to the ash deposits suggest that the ash formed at a time when generally drier climates prevailed in the regions in which the ash occurs. The mineralogical composition of the ash is distinctive and allows it to be distinguished from other volcanic ash deposits.
N-transforms: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The movement and reposition of cultural material on an archaeological site by natural agencies, such as animals or freeze-thaw action.
National Register of Historic Places: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: National Register
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A federally maintained list of archaeological, architectural, historical, and cultural sites of local, state, or national significance.
natural layer: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: On archaeological sites, a layer formed by geological processes.
natural transformations: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Changes in the archaeological record resulting from natural phenomena that occur after the artifacts are deposited in the ground.
natural type: CATEGORY: typology
DEFINITION: An archaeological type coinciding with an actual category recognized by the original toolmaker.
Nderit Drift: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Site on the Nderit River south of Lake Nakuru, Kenya, which preserves a long sequence of archaeological deposits which illustrate the precursors of the Pastoral Neolithic complex. A blade industry of the 11th millennium BC is regarded as a probable ancestor of the Eburran (Gambles's Cave).
Nenana Complex: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Prehistoric culture (or complex) in south-central Alaska dated to c 12,000-10,500 bp. It is characterized by small bifacial projectile points (Chindadn points). It is the earliest dated set of archaeological finds in Alaska.
Neolithic: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: neolithic, New Stone Age
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: The period of prehistory when people began to use ground stone tools, cultivate plants, and domesticate livestock but before the use of metal for tools. It is the technical name for the New Stone Age in the Old World following the Mesolithic. In the Neolithic, villages were established, pottery and weaving appeared, and farming began. The Neolithic began about 8000-7000 BC in the Middle East and about 4000-3000 BC in Europe. It was followed by the Bronze Age, which began about 3500-3000 BC in the Middle East and about 2000-1500 BC in Europe. The criteria for defining" the Neolithic has become progressively more difficult to apply as both food production and metalworking took a long time to develop. In Britain the Neolithic has other more specific characteristics: the use of pottery and of ground stone (beside the long-employed flaked stone) and the appearance of construction works like the long barrow causewayed camp and megalithic tomb. Elsewhere however some Mesolithic cultures made use of pottery in Japan for example; and certain so-called pre-pottery Neolithic groups had none as at Jericho. If the term Neolithic is to be retained at all it must be based on the appearance of food production (especially cereal grains) sometimes called the Neolithic revolution commencing in southwest Asia 9000-6000 BC. This might be considered the most important single advance ever made by man since it allowed him to settle permanently in one spot. This in turn encouraged the accumulation of material possessions stimulated trade and by giving a storable surplus of food allowed a larger population and craft specialization. All these were prerequisite to further human progress. The Neolithic was followed by the Mesolithic period the Chalcolithic or the Bronze Age depending on the terminology used in different areas and the nature of the archaeological sequence itself. The Neolithic followed the Paleolithic Period."
neutron activation analysis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: NAA
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A physical method of chemical analysis used to determine the composition of various substances such as flint, obsidian, pottery, coins, etc. found in archaeological contexts. It can be totally nondestructive to the sample and involves the excitation of the atomic nuclei rather than the atomic electrons. The specimen is bombarded with neutrons which interact with nuclei in the sample to form radioactive isotopes that emit gamma rays as they decay. The energy spectrum of the emitted rays is detected by a scintillation or semiconductor counter. Constituent elements and concentrations are identified by the characteristic energy spectrum of emitted rays and their intensity. The time between the neutron activation of the sample and the measurement of the gamma rays depends on the half-lives of the radioactive isotopes, which may range from seconds to thousands of years: often a few weeks may be necessary before measurement takes place. Neutron activation analysis has an advantage over X-ray fluorescence spectrometry since it analyzes the whole specimen as opposed to the surface only. Care must be taken that the neutron dose is not so great as to make the specimen radioactively unsafe for handling. The method is particularly useful for the identification of trace elements; however, it is not universally applicable since some elements have too short a half-life for measurement, and others do not form radioactive isotopes. The method is accurate to about plus or minus 5 percent. Neutron activation analysis of certain Hopewell artifacts made of obsidian has proven that the source of the obsidian was in what is now Yellowstone National Park.
New Britain: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago, southwestern Pacific, in Papua New Guinea. Archaeological discoveries include stone pestles and mortars like those from the New Guinea Highlands, an undated industry of waisted flaked tools from Kandrian, and the first discovered Lapita site (Watom Island. The Talasea obsidian source, the most important in the southwestern Pacific and quarried since at least 9000 BC, is on New Britain. The island was probably settled by Papuan-speakers from New Guinea before 9000 BC.
New Caledonia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A French overseas territory in the southwestern Pacific, the largest island of southwest Melanesia, with an Austronesian-speaking population and an archaeological record going back to Lapita settlement, about 1300 BC. The island is well known for its prehistoric and ethnographic systems of terraced wet taro cultivation, and also has the richest assemblage of rock-carvings in Oceania. Lapita, on the Foué Peninsula on New Caledonia island, is the type site for Lapita ware, which indicates an Austronesian presence in the area about 2000-1000 BC.
New Zealand: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The southernmost and (except for Chatham Islands) only temperate landmass to be settled by Polynesians/Maoris. Beginning in c 900 AD, the lifestyle was predominantly horticultural on the North Island, but hunting and gathering on the colder South Island. Language, economy, and technology are almost fully Polynesian. There are two archaeological phases: Archaic, c 900-1300, and Classic, c 1300-1800. The Classic is associated with many earthwork fortifications, a rich woodcarving tradition, and development of the chiefly society observed by Captain Cook in 1769.
Nihon shoki: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Nihongi
CATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: The second-earliest surviving chronicle of Japan, the 'Chronicle of Japan', completed in 720. The work began in the 7th century with the same objectives as for Koji-ki, but the Nihon Shoki is a more lengthy and scholarly attempt written in Chinese, the official written language of the day. It was compiled as part of the Ritsuryo state's effort to legitimize the ruling dynasty. Numerous documents, including Chinese and Korean sources, were clearly consulted and often cited. Beginning with a slightly different version of a creation myth from the one related in Koji-ki, the chronicles end with the events at the very end of the 7th century. The accounts include imperial genealogies, legendary events, and reign chronicles. They have been used in archaeological studies of the protohistoric Kofun period.
Nimrud: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ancient Kalhu, biblical Calah
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Assyrian capital of Kalhu (Calah), founded in 883 BC by Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) over the ruins of an earlier city built by Shalmaneser I (1274-1245 BC) in 13th century BC. It is located by Tigris River, south of modern Mosul (Iraq) in Mesopotamia. It was the third capital city, with Assur and Nineveh, of Assyria. The statues and inscriptions found by Sir Austen Henry Layard was one of the first archaeological discoveries to stir the public imagination. Its wall was some 8 km in circuit, enclosing at one corner a citadel which contained a ziggurat, temples, and palaces. The palaces have yielded the richest finds, enormous stone winged bulls, reliefs, and exquisite carved ivories which once adorned the royal furniture. Another rich collection of ivories was found in the arsenal of Shalmaneser III in the outer town. Some of the ivories show traces of the fire which accompanied the overthrow of the city by the Medes in 612 BC. Unlike many of the cities of Mesopotamia, Nimrud was not a long-lived site occupied from the prehistoric period. Its heyday continued until c 710 BC when the capital was transferred first to Khorsabad and subsequently to Nineveh. Many of the sculptures were brought back to England by Layard and are now in the British Museum.
non-site archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: off-site archaeology; landscape archaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The recovery and analysis of unclustered physical remains produced by human activities. Non-site archaeology generally concentrates on remains recovered in a surface or plow zone context. It is an approach, especially in archaeological survey, where the unit of analysis is the artifact rather than the site. Practitioners document the distribution of humanly-modified materials across the landscape.
nonintrusive archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: Archaeological research without excavation.
nonsite archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: non-site archaeology; off-site archaeology; landscape archaeology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The recovery and analysis of unclustered physical remains produced by human activities. Non-site archaeology generally concentrates on remains recovered in a surface or plow zone context. It is an approach, especially in archaeological survey, where the unit of analysis is the artifact rather than the site. Practitioners document the distribution of humanly-modified materials across the landscape.
normative: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: normative view, normative approach, normative concept of culture
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Relating to a view of human culture stressing shared, homogenous culture; important to defining cultural units in time and space. It argues that an individual society has a uniform and standard way of doing things and that these norms are represented by particular homogeneous patterns in the archaeological record. It is a descriptive approach to culture, used in an archaeological interpretation of both synchronic and diachronic descriptions of cultural forms.
Northumbria: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: One of the most important kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, lying north of the Humber River. During its peak period it extended from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, between two west-east lines formed in the north by the Ayrshire coast and the Firth of Forth and in the south by the Ribble/Mersey River and the Humber. It resulted from the union of Deira, with its capital at York, and Bernicia, based on Bamburgh, under Edwin in 622 AD. After the conversion of King Edwin in 626 and the establishment of many major monasteries within the region, Northumbria became a center of missionary activity and a leading center of missionary activity and a leading center for the production of Christian art. In the later 7th-8th centuries, despite political decline, it was the scene of a cultural renaissance, attested by the history of Bede, the illuminated manuscripts of Lindisfarne, etc. Schools of art and monumental architecture also flourished. Archaeologically its most important site is Yeavering, a series of palaces built by Edwin and his successors in northern Northumberland. The cultural life and the political unity of Northumbria were destroyed by the arrival of the Danes.
Northwest Coast tradition: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A series of prehistoric groups of the northern California coast, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska, with origins in the Fraser River delta and clearly established by 1000 BC. Their subsistence was based on hunting and gathering of riverine and marine food sources (mollusks, salmon, halibut, sea mammals). Characteristics in the archaeological record include bone and slate hunting tools, stone effigy carving, and woodworking tools. Totem poles and elaborately carved long houses are still a cultural feature in the area.
Nubian A Group: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Nubian A-Group culture
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The name conventionally given to the earliest fully food-producing society known in the archaeological record of Nubia, late in the 4th millennium BC. The 'A Group' people probably had an indigenous Nubian ancestry, but were evidently in regular trade contact. The A Group is known mainly from graves, as from the excavated cemetery at Qustul, and adopted symbols of kingship similar to those of contemporary kings of Egypt of the Naqadah II-III period. It was one of the earliest phases of state formation in the world. Some settlement sites have been investigated, as at Afyeh near the First Cataract where rectangular stone houses were built, as well other rural villages. Sheep and goats were herded, with some cattle, while both wheat and barley were cultivated. Luxury manufactured goods imported from Egypt included stone vessels, amulets, copper tools and linen cloth.
Nubian rescue campaign: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: An international movement, coordinated by UNESCO between 1960-1980, to limit the loss of archaeological data as a result of the building of the Aswan High Dam and the subsequent flooding of much of Lower Nubia by Lake Nasser. The movement wanted to survey and excavate as many of the sites as possible and dismantle and re-erect the most important temples -- Abu Simbel, Philae, and Kalabsha.
number of identified specimens: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: NISP
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A gross counting technique used in the quantification of animal bones. The method may produce misleading results in assessing the relative abundance of different species, since skeletal differences and differential rates of bone preservation mean that some species will be represented more than others. It is a largely outdated measure of sample size in archaeological fauna.
numerical taxonomy: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cluster analysis; taximetrics
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A set of mathematical procedures for grouping individual items into classes. The technique used is cluster analysis, which produces groupings of items based on their degree of similarity. There are different ways of measuring the similarity between items, and different techniques of producing clusters from such measurements. Agglomerative techniques start with the most similar items and repeatedly add new members to existing clusters as the standard of similarity is lowered; divisive methods, on the other hand, start with the entire collection to be classified and repeatedly subdivide into smaller groups on the basis of certain attributes. The results of the analyses can be shown in the form of a dendrogram, but the interpretation of the groupings produced will depend on a detailed assessment of the archaeological data itself. Numerical taxonomy is also the multivariate analysis of many measurable features (taxonomic characters) to produce a biological classification. Because of the complexity of the analysis, the use of a computer is virtually mandatory. No attempt is made, as in evolutionary taxonomy, to weight characters on the basis of their presumed roles in natural selection. For this reason, numerical taxonomy produces a classification that reflects phenetic distances i.e., degrees of similarity. Such classifications are rejected by many conventional taxonomists who feel that the relationships expressed in a classification should be strictly evolutionary. The numerical evaluation of the affinity or similarity between taxonomic units and the ordering of these units into taxa on the basis of their affinities is used often in archaeology.
Nydam: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A bog in Schleswig, southern Jutland, which yielded a rich votive deposit of the Roman Iron Age. The main finds were more than 100 iron swords (some with damascened blades, others stamped with the maker's name), and a wooden boat some 21 m long. The boat was clinker-built, had no mast or sail and was provided with 15 rowlocks on each side. The bow and sternpost were upturned, and the vessel was steered by an oar. It is now a famous exhibit, the Nydamboot (Nydam boat). This 4th-century Viking ship was discovered in 1863 in the Nydam marsh. It was one of the most important archaeological finds of the Migration Period. The boat is believed to have been typical of the vessels used by the Anglo-Saxon migrants coming to England in the 5th century. Its construction, however, would have made this a dangerous journey and it is likely that its use was confined to the tideless sea of the Baltic.
off-site archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: non-site archaeology, landscape archaeology
CATEGORY: branch; technique
DEFINITION: The recovery and analysis of unclustered physical remains produced by human activities. Non-site archaeology generally concentrates on remains recovered in a surface or plow zone context. It is an approach, especially in archaeological survey, where the unit of analysis is the artifact rather than the site. Practitioners document the distribution of humanly-modified materials across the landscape.
olive jar: CATEGORY: ceramics
DEFINITION: A type of pottery vessel used to ship olives and wine (and other commodities) from Spain; commonly found in Spanish colonial archaeological sites.
Omori: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Late to Final Jomon shell midden near Tokyo, Japan. Edward S. Morse conducted the first scientific excavation of an archaeological site in Japan here in 1877. 'Jomon' is the Japanese translation of the term 'cord-mark' used by Morse to describe the pottery from the site.
opal phytolith: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: plant opal phytolith, phytolith
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Microscopic silica bodies that form in living plants, providing a durable floral ecofact that allows identification of plant remains in archaeological deposits.
open site: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: open-air site
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A term for any archaeological site not located within a cave or rock shelter.
osteoarchaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A branch of archaeology that deals with human anatomy, particularly the bones in archaeological deposits.
Ostia: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: modern Ostia Antica
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Major Roman port and colony at the mouth of the Tiber River, founded in the 4th century BC. Towards end of 4th century BC, a rectangular fort was constructed, securing Rome's interest in trade routes through Ostia; the town was for a long time effectively the port of ancient Rome. It grew until 78 BC when it was destroyed in the Roman civil wars. It was later rebuilt by Sulla with a forum and capitolium. Claudius (41-54 AD) and Trajan (98-117 AD) had two harbors built at Portus, immediately north of Ostia. The 2nd century AD proved to be a period of unprecedented prosperity, which has left the most plentiful traces in today's ruins. The new harbors were largely administered through Ostia, and presumably much of the workforce chose to live at Ostia. Large brick apartment blocks were built in 1st-2nd centuries AD. They were of three, four, and five stories; the floors in these buildings were paved with mosaic and the walls elaborately painted. The second century also saw the construction of an aqueduct, imperial suites of public baths, and synagogue. The need for depositories and warehouses (horrea) became very important. The increase in trade brought prosperity to many areas of the city. In a double colonnade behind the theater, a large number of small offices housed agencies for all the major shipping destinations and types of trade. In the city, over 800 shops are known. Third century AD political instability at Rome combined with an economic recession brought a general decline in shipping. Constantine preferred Portus to Ostia, so it became a seaside-resort with expensive houses. Even with that use, the area declined from barbarian raids in the 5th century. It was abandoned after the erection of Gregoriopolis, site of Ostia Antica, by Pope Gregory IV (827-844). The Roman ruins were quarried for building materials in the Middle Ages and for sculptors' marble in the Renaissance. Archaeological excavation was begun in the 19th century under papal authority, and about two-thirds of the Roman town can now be seen.
otolith: CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: Small, dense calcareous concretions from the middle ear region of fish, quite commonly found on archaeological sites. Otoliths are species-distinctive, and can therefore be used for identification purposes in the analysis of fish remains from a site. They also grow in annual rings and can thus be used to age the fish and to indicate seasonal use of the site. Otoliths are normally recovered by wet sieving of deposits.
palaeoeconomy: CATEGORY: term; related field
DEFINITION: A school of archaeological thought concerned with long-term determinants of human behavior. E.S. Higgs wrote Palaeoeconomy" in 1975."
Palatine: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Palatine Hill
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Principal of the seven hills of ancient Rome, and the favored location in the later Republic and the Empire for magnificent private houses and sumptuous residences of the emperors. It is a four-sided plateau rising 131 feet (40 m) south of the Forum in Rome and 168 feet (51 m) above sea level. It has a circumference of 5,700 feet (1,740 m). The city of Rome was founded on the Palatine, where archaeological discoveries range from prehistoric remains to the ruins of imperial palaces. The modern use of 'palace' is commonly traced back to this period. Tradition said the Palatine Hill was the site of the earliest Roman occupation, associated with mythical Romulus and Remus. Augustus was born on the hill and started a fashion for imperial residence by buying and enlarging the house of Hortensius. This trend was followed with zest by later emperors, and Domitian took over most of the hill for his amazingly extensive Domus Augustiana. Later structures included a special emperor's box overlooking the Circus Maximus, and the Septizonium, a monumental facade built solely to screen the southeast corner of the palace.
paleodemography: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeodemography
CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of ancient human population and population changes and the study of mortality patterns in antiquity. It aims to reconstruct the demography of ancient populations on the basis of archaeological evidence using bone remains and the traces left by occupation. It is a branch of paleontology.
paleoentomology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeoentomology
CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of insects from archaeological contexts. The survival of insect exoskeletons, which are quite resistant to decomposition, is an important source of evidence in the reconstruction of paleo-environments
paleoenvironmental reconstruction: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The determination of the prehistoric environment of an archaeological site, using the methodologies of geology, botany, palynology, and archaeozoology. The paleoenvironment is the ancient environment.
paleoethnobotany: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeobotany, palaeoethnobotany, palaeoentomology, palaeobotany
CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of botanical remains at archaeological sites; the analysis and interpretation of interrelationships between people and plants from evidence in the archaeological record. The field examines the natural surroundings of flora as well as the human-controlled flora on sites. The terms archaeobotany, palaeoentolomology, and palaeobotany are sometimes used interchangeably in the literature of archaeology.
paleoethnology: CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: Ethnology is a science that deals with the division of human beings into races and their origin, distribution, relations, and characteristics. It is anthropology dealing chiefly with the comparative and analytical study of cultures -- more commonly called cultural anthropology. Paleoethnology is the study of the behavior of vanished peoples. Now renamed, it is the ethnological study of prehistoric peoples based solely on archaeological evidence.
paleomagnetism: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeomagnetism, remanent magnetism; paleo-magnetism, palaeo-magnetism; archaeomagnetism
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The magnetic polarization acquired by the minerals in a rock at the time the rock was deposited or solidified. The permanent magnetism in rocks, resulting from the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field at the time of rock formation in a past geological age. It is the source of information for the paleomagnetic studies of polar wandering and continental drift. The field of paleomagnetism involves techniques for determining the age of rocks by analyzing the magnetic field polarity of certain minerals in the rock and its importance in archaeology lies in its use as a dating method. The ancient orientation and intensity of the earth's magnetic field is preserved by the magnetization of iron oxides in rocks and sediments and archaeological materials (archaeomagnetism). Ancient direction and intensity of the earth's magnetic field may be preserved in three ways: a) thermoremanet magnetism (T.R.M.) works through the alignment of the magnetic domains within iron minerals when heated to above the Curie point and subsequently cooling, b) detrital remanent magnetism works through the alignment of clay particles sinking down slowly through still lake or deep ocean water. A block of sediment is magnetized in the direction of the earth's field at the time when it was deposited., and c) sun-dried bricks as the bricks become magnetized in the current direction and intensity of the earth's field. Using igneous rocks, independently dated by potassium/argon, and kilns, hearths, pots etc. dated archaeologically, it has been possible to reconstruct something of the history of the earth's magnetic field. Palaeomagnetism proper is done by studying reversals in the magnetic field of the Earth, the youngest reversal dating to 700,000 bp. Measurement of the declination and inclination of the magnetic poles as it affects materials of different ages can be used to build regional chronologies. Palaeomagnetic dating has also been successfully applied to lacustrine deposits, deep sea cores, and volcanic rocks.
paleopathology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeopathology, paleophysioanthropology
CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of man's ills, diseases, diet, traumatic injuries, etc., by examination of human and animal remains. Such studies can determine life expectancy and population statistics, and contributory reason for the success or failure of a particular population. Most of the material studied is osteological, though soft tissue may be analyzed when preserved, as in of mummification or bog preservation. Some of man's ills -- fractures, malnutrition, dental decay, and some diseases -- leave their mark on his bones. Where his bones survive, evidence can be recovered which may reveal much about the conditions in which he lived, and died. Congenital malformations may show relationships between skeletons; diseases such as arthritis, tuberculosis, syphilis, and leprosy can be identified, as well as such conditions as bone fracture through injury. Evidence of war wounds and cannibalism have are also sought. The following groups of diseases have been regularly diagnosed in skeletons (both human and animals) from archaeological sites: (1) dental diseases; (2) diseases of the joints; (3) trauma (fractures and other injuries); (4) dietary deficiency diseases; (5) tumors; (6) inflammatory diseases: general inflammation and more specific conditions such as tuberculosis, leprosy and syphilis in man; (7) congenital deformities; and (8) endocrine disturbances. Study of the relative frequency of different diseases yields information about both the medical history and biology of ancient populations.
paleopedology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palaeopedology
CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of the creation, character, stratigraphy of buried fossil soils (palaeosols), which includes material in both geological and archaeological contexts and their geomorphic, temporal, and palaeoenvironmental significance. Soil scientists can assist archaeologists by explaining the natural and man-influenced processes on sites, such as the manner of filling of certain types of feature. Information may be deduced about climatic and environmental variation, which can lead to conclusions about the manipulation of the land by man.
palimpsest: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A collection of archaeological artifacts, ecofacts, and material that may not be related -- that are together through accident or natural forces rather than human activity. Also used to describe a site with a mass of intercut features of different periods.
palynology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pollen analysis
CATEGORY: related field; technique
DEFINITION: The study of fossil and living spores (of lichens and mosses) and pollen (of flowering plants); the technique through which the fossil pollen grains and spores from archaeological sites are studied. The examination of their production, dispersal, and applications is an aid to the reconstruction of past vegetation and climates and developing relative chronologies. Each kind of flowering plant produces pollen that is unique and pollen grains have tough coverings that can last a long time. The resilient exine of the pollen and spores is preserved in anaerobic environments, such as lakes and bogs, and some acidic and dry soils, as in caves. Palynology helps archaeologists find out what plant resources were available to ancient peoples and what the climate was at those times. Palynology was developed by Swedish botanist Lennart von Post.
Panlongcheng: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: P'an-lung-ch'eng
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Chinese archaeological site from about the middle of the Shang dynasty period (18th-12th century BC). The site, located near the confluence of the Yangtze and Han-shui rivers in central Hupei, consists of five graves and two storage pits. It is thought to be the southernmost outpost of the political system in the 15th-13th centuries BC. Palatial foundations, elite burials with Erligang-style bronze ritual vessels, and a hang-tu city wall have been excavated. There are poor burials, pottery, stone tools, and other bronze items. The earliest wood carvings yet found in China were at Panlongcheng.
particle size analysis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: particle-size analysis, size analysis, size-frequency analysis, grain size analysis
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique for analyzing the grain sizes of archaeological or geological sediments, used to discover the manner and process of their deposition. The technique also allows the accurate description of a deposit, and comparison with other sediments. There are several methods of particle size analysis. Dry sieving, the sifting of deposits through various sizes of mesh so that particles are grouped into sizes, is suitable for larger grains from pebbles to coarse sand. Light or electron microscopy is used for finer grains of sand, silt, and clay. Sedimentation, the counting of grains dispersed in liquid as they fall to the bottom of a container, is suitable for the finest grains of silt and clay. A combination of methods, is frequently used. The analysis may yield information on whether the deposit is wind- or water-borne, how much it has weathered, and to what extent it has been affected by man. Particles are classified into a number of size grades, normally under such headings as boulders, pebbles, stones, gravel, sand, silt, and clay; sand is often further subdivided. The mixture of particle size grades found in a material is known as the texture.
pedestal: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: The base of a structure, especially one supporting a statue or monumental column. It has three parts: the base or foot next to the ground, the dado or die forming the center, and the cornice or surbase moldings at the top. A second architectural definition is the support or foot of a late classic or neoclassical column. The term also refers to any upright column of sediment that is left standing as the surrounding archaeological excavation continues, to reflect the stratigraphy of the site or hold a specific artifact in place.
penetrating excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An excavating technique that exposes the vertical face of a site. This type of excavation is designed to reveal the vertical and temporal dimensions within an archaeological deposit -- the depth, sequence, and composition of buried data.
Peoples of the Sea: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Sea People(s), Peoples of the Islands in the Midst of the Sea
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Any of the groups of aggressive seafarers who invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age, especially in the 13th century BC. They are considered responsible for the destruction of the Hittite Empire, among others. Because of the abrupt break in ancient Near Eastern records as a result of the invasions, the precise extent and origin of the upheavals remain uncertain. Principal evidence is based on Egyptian texts and illustrations; other important information comes from Hittite sources and from archaeological data. The peoples were of mixed origin and tentative identifications of the people are: Pulesati/Pelset/Peleset = Philistines; Luka/Lukka = Lycians; Akawasha/Ahhiyawa/Ekwesh = Achaeans; Danuna = Danaoi; Sherden/Sherdana/Shardana = Sardinians; Shekelesh/Sicels/Sikels/Siculi = Sicilians; Tursha/Tyrsi/Teresh/Tyrrhenians (Tyrsenoi) = Etruscans. The Philistines, who perhaps came from Crete, were the only major tribe of the Sea Peoples to settle permanently in Palestine.
period: CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: Any specific interval of time in the archaeological record, such as the Upper Paleolithic period. This term is often confusingly used interchangeably with phase and stage. A period is a true time division of the history of a large region (such as the Valley of Mexico or southern China) and does not necessarily imply any developmental characteristics. In archaeological context, it is a major unit of prehistoric time, usually containing several phases and pertaining to a wide area. It is a convenient term used to discuss the history of a complex area.
Persian Gulf trade: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The maritime trading of the 3rd and early 2nd millennia BC between Mesopotamia and Dilmun, Magain, and Meluhha. The busiest Mesopotamian sites were Lagash and Ur and the other three places' names are known from cuneiform texts. Combined with archaeological information, it has been determined that Dilmun corresponds to the Barbar culture of the Persian Gulf, Magain relates to Umm an-Nar in southwest Arabia, and Meluhha is identified with the Harappan culture area.
perspective drawing: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A three-dimensional rendering, usually of a feature or a site, used to record and reconstruct the results of archaeological research. . Geometric perspective is a drawing method by which it is possible to depict a three-dimensional form as a two-dimensional image that closely resembles the scene as visualized by the human eye. Perspective drawings and photographs are easily interpreted because they closely resemble visual images.
Petrarch (1304-1374): SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Francesco Petrarca
CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: An Italian poet, often considered the first humanist and perhaps the most influential individual of the early Renaissance. In 1337 he visited Rome for the first time, to be stirred among its ruins by the evident grandeur of its past. He provided a strong impetus for archaeological research by looking to antiquity for moral philosophy; his humanism led to a rediscovery of the past.
phase: CATEGORY: term; technique
DEFINITION: A term generally referring to an archaeological unit defined by artifacts and cultural traits that distinguish it from other units. It is an archaeological unit defined by characteristic groupings of culture traits that can be identified precisely in time and space. It lasts for a relatively short time and is found at one or more sites in a locality or region. Therefore, it is an interval of time in the archaeological record, especially a relatively limited time within a specific locality or region and often used to represent a distinct prehistoric people. The archaeologist abstracts the phase from a number of components which occupy a certain area in space and the same span in time and which share many or most of their distinctive features with each other. These components may represent units as small as tribal camps or as large as cities. It is similar to focus" in the Midwestern Taxonomic System and to "culture" in the Old World."
Phase I survey: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Phase I
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An exploratory survey of an area to determine location and boundaries of any historic or archaeological site potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Phase II testing: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Phase II
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A thorough investigation of an historic or archaeological site to make recommendations regarding its eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Phase III data recovery: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Phase III
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An excavation of an historic or archaeological site listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places prior to its demolition for new construction.
Philippines: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An archipelago of about 7,100 islands and islets lying about 500 miles (800 km) off the southeastern coast of Asia. A firm archaeological sequence began there c 30,000 years ago, at Tabon Cave on Palawan Island. There are Late Pleistocene stone industries, the spread of a small flake and blade technology after 5000 BC (Holocene), and the arrival and rapid spread of Austronesian-speaking horticulturists after 3000 BC. Rich jar-burial assemblages occur in the islands from about 1000 BC; bronze and iron appear later. Chinese traders visited and lived on the islands from about 1000 AD. Indian culture reached the archipelago during the 14th-16th centuries via Indonesian kingdoms, notably the Java-based kingdom of Majapahit. This is particularly noticeable in Philippine languages and literatures where Sanskrit loanwords and ancient Indian motifs abound. At the beginning of the 15th century Filipinos were primarily shifting cultivators, hunters, and fishermen with animistic beliefs. Islam was introduced later in the same century, followed by Ferdinand Magellan's discovery of the Philippines in 1521.
Phoenician: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Phoenicia
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A Semitic people who lived in the coastal area of Lebanon and Syria from about 1000 BC, the cultural heirs of the Canaanites. They flourished as traders from their ports of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos. They are crediting with founding Carthage and inventing the alphabet; the Greek, Roman, Arabic and Hebrew alphabets are all derived from the Phoenician. Even after their incorporation into the Babylonian empire in 574 BC, they continued to influence world politics, in the Near East through their fleets, in the west through their powerful colony of Carthage. They also established colonies in Utica, north Africa; Gades in Spain, Motya in Sicily, Nora and Tharros in Sardinia, and other settlements in Malta and Ibiza. Culturally their role as merchants and middlemen was uninterrupted until they were absorbed into the Hellenistic and Roman world. They are reputed to have circumnavigated Africa. They developed the alphabet to assist their commercial activities. They are not well-known archaeologically in their homeland, though there has been some exploration of their major sites; they have left few lasting memorials in the form of great works of art or monumental architecture. The Phoenicians engaged in a series of three Punic Wars with the Romans, which led to their ultimate defeat and incorporation into the Roman world in the 2nd century BC.
photogrammetry: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique for mapping of areas using photographs taken directly from above. Though used mainly in map-making, it can also be used for the planning of archaeological sites. For large-scale map-making the photographs are taken from the air, a sequence along each flight path with each exposure overlapping the next by 60%. Adjustment is made so that the photographs can be laid side by side in a mosaic, with common reference points lying over each other. They are then converted into maps by the use of multiple projectors. A similar technique can be used to plan smaller-scale features such as excavations. The camera can be mounted on a rigid frame, and moved along so that it takes overlapping vertical photographs. It can greatly speed up the mapping of complicated features. Many of today's maps are largely produced by this method.
photography: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The recording of archaeological data on photographic film, especially during data acquisition, processing, and analysis.
phytolith: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: opal phytolith, plant opal phytolith
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Microscopic silica bodies that form in living plants, providing a durable floral ecofact that allows identification of plant remains in archaeological deposits. It is a fossilized part of a living plant that secreted opal silica bodies and it is found within the cells of certain plants, especially grasses and cereals. These silica bodies are often able to survive after the organism has decomposed or been burned. They are common in ash layers, pottery, and even on stone tools used to cut the stems of silica-rich plants (e.g. cereals). Different plants produce phytoliths with different characteristic shapes and sizes, though not all are unique to specific species. These can be detected by an electronic scanning microscope.
Pict: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Cruithni, Cruithne; Painted People, Pictae
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An ancient people who lived in eastern-northeastern Scotland, known as the Painted People" probably referring to a custom of body painting or tattooing. Probably descendants of pre-Celtic aborigines or from the Bay of Biscay where they had helped Caesar defeat the Veneti the Picts were described in 297 AD by a Roman writing of the "Picts and Irish [Scots] attacking" Hadrian's Wall. They were the principal enemies of Rome in north Britain. Then or soon after they developed two kingdoms north of the Firth of Forth which became a united "Pict-land" by the 7th century. In 843 Kenneth I MacAlpin king of the Scots became also king of the Picts uniting their two lands in a new kingdom of Alba which evolved into Scotland. The Pictish kingdom is known for its symbol stones and crosses. Their name for themselves was Cruithni. There is little archaeological material which can be confidently attributed to the Picts except for the symbol stones."
Piki: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An archaeological phase occurring in Ayacucho basin in central Andes, Peru, with artifacts dating c 5800-4550 BC.
pit house: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pithouse; pit dwelling
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A subterranean or semi-subterranean dwelling found in the American southwest; the earliest manmade dwellings. It usually had an underground floor and aboveground earthen or brush walls supported by interior posts and was the primary habitation structure of individual families of basketweaving cultures. These structures may be round, oval, or square to rectangular, but usually have a straight entrance. Most were roofed with thatch and supported by posts. Often, all that remains on an archaeological site is a large, shallow pit. Its most popular period was 200-900 AD and it evolved into the kiva.
Pitt-Rivers, General Augustus Lane-Fox (1827-1900): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British scholar and pioneer in archaeological excavation and recording, working on prehistoric and Romano-British sites in England. His large-scale excavations unearthed villages, camps, cemeteries, and barrows at sites such as Woodcutts, Rotherley, South Lodge, Bokerly Dyke, and Wansdyke. From his study of firearms, he realized that something analogous to evolution can be traced in artifacts as well as in living organisms, with the same gradual developments and occasional degenerations. He assembled an ethnographical collection arranged by use rather than by provenance, a practical example of typology. He helped to advance excavation to a scientific technique with precise work, total excavation of sites, meticulous recording of detail, and full and rapid publication. His work on his own estate, Cranborne Chase, was published in five volumes entitled Excavations in Cranborne Chase" (1887-1903). He stressed stratigraphy and precise recording of all finds and is often called the "father of British archaeology". "
Place, Victor (1818-1875): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: French Consul in Mosul and excavator of Khorsabad (the first archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia), succeeding Paul-Emile Botta. His finds were lost in shipment down the Tigris.
plan drawing: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A two-dimensional rendering at a constant scale, showing the horizontal dimensions of archaeological data.
planimetric map: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: Map used to record details of an archaeological site(s) or features but which contains no topographic information.
plank coffin: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Wooden box made from planks fixed together (rather than a hollowed trunk, for example) for the containment of a human corpse prior to and during burial. For Roman and later times plank coffins are usually recognized archaeologically from the pattern of nails found in the grave. Plank coffins made before the availability of nails can sometimes be recognized by the patterns of grave fill.
plant macrofossil: CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Preserved or carbonized plant parts recovered from archaeological sites and large enough to be observed without a microscope.
Pleistocene: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ice age, Ice Age, Oiluvium; Quaternary; Great Ice Age; Pleistocene Epoch
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: A geochronological division of geological time, an epoch of the Quaternary period following the Pliocene. During the Pleistocene, large areas of the northern hemisphere were covered with ice and there were successive glacial advances and retreats. The Lower Pleistocene began c 1.8 million years ago, the Middle Pleistocene c 730,000 years ago, and the Upper Pleistocene c 127,000 years ago; it ended about 10,000 years ago. Most present-day mammals appeared during the Pleistocene. The onset of the Pleistocene was marked by an increasingly cold climate, by the appearance of Calabrian mollusca and Villafranchian fauna with elephant, ox, and horse species, and by changes in foraminifera. The oldest form of man had evolved by the Early Pleistocene (Australopithecus), and in archaeological terms the cultures classed as Palaeolithic all fall within this period. By the mid-Pleistocene, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and Europe. Homo sapiens spread to Asia and the Americas before the end of the epoch. There were mass extinctions of large and small fauna during the Pleistocene. In North America more than 30 genera of large mammals became extinct within a span of roughly 2,000 years during the late Pleistocene. Of the many causes that have been proposed by scientists for these faunal extinctions, the two most likely are changing environment with changing climate, and the disruption of the ecological pattern by early humans. The Pleistocene was succeeded by the Holocene or present epoch.
plow zone: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The top layer of the soil to the depth at which a plow will penetrate and disturb archaeological deposits.
polissoir: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A block of coarse stone, sometimes as an earthfast boulder or natural outcrop, used for grinding and polishing stone axes in the final stages of production. Archaeologically they are distinctive in having bowl-shaped depressions on which the bodies of the axes were ground. Some also have V-section grooves in which the blades were finished.
pollen: CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Plant sperm. Pollen's outermost layer, the exine, survives in archaeological context.
pollen analysis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: palynology
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The study of pollen grains in soil samples from an archaeological site which provides information on ancient human use of plants and plant resources. This technique, which is used in establishing relative chronologies as well as in environmental archaeology, was developed primarily as a technique for the relative dating of natural horizons. Pollen grains are produced in vast quantities by all plants, especially the wind-pollinated tree species. The outer skin (exine) of these grains is remarkably resistant to decay, and on wet ground or on a buried surface, it will be preserved, locked in the humus content. The pollen grains of trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers are preserved in either anaerobic conditions or in acid soils. Samples can be taken from the deposits by means of a core or from individual layers at frequent intervals in a section face on an archaeological site. The pollen is extracted and then concentrated and stained and examined under a microscope. Pollen grains are identifiable by their shape, and the percentages of the different species present in each sample are recorded on a pollen diagram. A comparison of the pollen diagrams for different levels within a deposit allows the identification of changes in the percentages of species and thus changes in the environment. As a dating technique, pollen has been used to identify different zones of arboreal vegetation which often correspond to climatic changes. The technique is invaluable for disclosing the environment of early man's sites and can even, over and series of samples, reveal man's influence on his environment by, for example, forest clearance. The sediments most frequently investigated are peat and lake deposits, but the more acid soils, such as podsols, are also analyzed. Radiocarbon dates may be taken at intervals in the sequence, and it is possible to reconstruct the history of vegetation in the area around the site where the samples were taken. Palynology plays an important role in the investigation of ancient climates, particularly through studies of deposits formed during glacial and interglacial stages of the Pleistocene epoch.
Polynesian Outliers: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Polynesian outliers
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Communities occupying the 19 small islands to windward (east) of the large Melanesian islands of the Solomons, New Hebrides, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and on the southern fringes of Micronesia. Archaeology and linguistics suggest settlement by a back-movement from western Polynesia (Samoa, Futuna, Ellice) perhaps starting in the 1st millennium AD. Archaeological evidence indicates that by 1300 BC islands in northern Vanuatu were settled by the makers of the distinctive Lapita pottery from Melanesian islands to the west.
Pomongwe: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A cave in Matopo Hills near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, with fine rock paintings, especially of giraffe. The cave has a long sequence of stone industries and the name Pomongwe also refers to a Later Stone Age industry of southwestern Zimbabwe dated between 10,800-9400 bp. At the very bottom of the deep archaeological deposits at Pomongwe are a few artifacts possibly of Sangoan type. Later occupations are attributed successively to the Charaman, Bambata, Tshangula, and Wilton industries. Interstratified between the last two is the Pomongwe culture's assemblage, containing utilized flakes and crude scrapers with virtually no other stone implements. Some see it as a regional industry within the Oakhurst Complex.
postdeposition: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: After deposit; what can and does happen to artifacts between the time they were discarded by past people and archaeological excavation.
postprocessual archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: post-processual explanation, postprocessual approach
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A relatively new school of archaeological thinking that uses the ideational strategy and cautions against the shortcomings of scientific methods and the new (or processual) archaeology. It was formulated in reaction to the perceived limitations of functional-processual archaeology and pushes for an individualizing" or "idiosyncratic" approach that is influenced by structuralism critical theory and neo-Marxist thought. It emphasizes social factors in human societies both the active role of individuals as decision makers and the meaning-laden contexts in which decisions are made. It is based on the notions that culture must be understood as sets of symbols that evoke meanings and that these vary depending on particular contexts of use and the histories of artifacts and the people who use them."
postprocessual paradigm: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A humanistic approach relying on ideational factors to explain archaeological findings, interpreting the past rather than testing hypotheses with scientific methods. The postprocessual paradigm sees change as arising from individuals' interactions within a symbolic or competitive system.
potassium-argon dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: K-A dating; potassium argon dating; radiopotassium dating
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An isotopic method of dating the age of a rock or mineral by measuring the rate at which potassium-40, a radioactive form of this element, decays into argon. It is used primarily on lava flows and tuffs and for ocean floor basalts. Potassium, which is present in most rocks and minerals, has a single radioactive isotope, K 40. This decays by two different processes into Calcium 40 and Argon 40. Though 89% decays to Calcium 40, it is not suitable for measurement since most rocks contain Calcium 40 as a primary element, and the amount caused by the decay of K 40 cannot be determined. The remaining 11% decays into the gas Argon 40, and this can be measured, along with the amount of potassium in the sample, to get a date. Dates produced by using this technique have been checked by fission track dating. The technique is best used on material more than 100,000 years old -- such as the dating of layers associated with the earliest remains of hominids, notably in the Olduvai Gorge. Lava flows embedded with the deposits containing archaeological material have been dated.
pothunter or pot-hunter: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any person who collects archaeological objects or excavates sites in an unscientific manner for personal gain, and whose actions result in the destruction of surrounding data. Pothunting is illegal artifact collecting.
potsherd: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: sherd, shard
CATEGORY: ceramics
DEFINITION: Any pottery fragment -- piece of broken pot or other earthenware item -- that has archaeological significance. Often abbreviated to sherd, potsherds are an invaluable part of the archaeological record because they are well-preserved. The analysis of ceramic changes recorded in potsherds has become one of the primary techniques used by archaeologists in assigning components and phases to times and cultures.
pre-projectile point complex: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A term applied to a complex consisting of the earliest archaeological evidence of humans on the North American continent. It is characterized by the lack of stone projectile points, which can be dated.
predictive model: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The use of GIS and other tools to construct a model of a site location, to predict particular kinds of archaeological sites based on their tendency to occur in the same kinds of place.
prehistory: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: prehistoric period
CATEGORY: related field; chronology
DEFINITION: Any period for which there is no documentary evidence and the study of cultures before written history or of more recent cultures lacking formal historical records. In the strict sense, 'history' is an account of the past recovered from written records, but such an account can be prepared from other sources, notably archaeology. The term 'prehistory' was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851 to cover the story of man's development before the appearance of writing. It is succeeded by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to give us a coherent account. Prehistory differs from history in dealing with the activities of a society or culture, not of the individual; it is restricted to the material evidence that has survived.
preservation: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The protection of artifacts and archaeological sites through activities that minimize deterioration and damage and that prevent loss of context and content.
primary context: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: An undisturbed association, matrix, and provenience; the condition when they have not been disturbed since the original deposition of archaeological data.
primary silt: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: rapid silt
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The initial silt from the top and sides of a newly dug feature (ditch, gully, pit, etc.) that falls naturally to the bottom. It occurs as a result of the immediate weathering of the sides and top due to wind or the action of precipitation. Unless the feature was cleaned of this material in antiquity, it may be recognized in many archaeological features, and any material found in it may date from around the time of the original digging. However, a more ancient artifact which was lying on the ground surface close to the lip of the ditch may tumble into the fill when the edges of the trench crumble and collapse.
probabilistic sampling: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An archaeological sampling method based on formal statistical criteria in selecting sample units to be investigated. It is designed to draw reliable general conclusions about a site or region, based on small sample areas, and allows evaluation of how representative the sample is with respect to the data population. Four types of sampling strategies are recognized: 1) simple random sampling; 2) stratified random sampling; 3) systematic sampling; 4) stratified systematic sampling.
probing: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The use of any of several instruments to explore beneath the ground for archaeological deposits.
problem orientation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The question or issue that a particular archaeological research effort is designed to address.
profile: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: section
CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: A vertical wall, section, or face of an excavation pit that exposes the lateral relationships, archaeological features, structures, stratigraphy -- and their relationships. By extension, a profile is a record or graphic representation of these, including color, soil type, features, and content. Soil profiles consist of a number of layers, or horizons, which result from soil-forming processes.
protein residue analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The recovery and identification of proteins preserved in or on archaeological materials.
Proto-Three Kingdoms: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Late Iron Age, Lelang
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: The protohistoric period of the Korean peninsula, c 1-300 AD, which preceded the Three Kingdoms period of Koguryo, Silla, and the Paekche. Archaeological finds of the period are mainly from Lelang and Koguryo in the north and Samhan in the south. Bronze and iron were used and iron made at shell midden sites on the southern coast. In actuality, the Three Kingdoms period was c 57 BC-668 AD.
protohistory: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: protohistoric era, protohistoric period
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: The period in any area following prehistory and preceding the appearance of coherent history derived from written records. It is a transitional time period between prehistory and recorded history, for which both archaeological and historical data are employed. There are several more detailed definitions, such as 1) a time when non-literate aboriginal peoples had access to European goods but had not had face-to-face contact; 2) periods during which historical documentation is fragmentary or not directly from the society being studied; and 3) the period of 1250-1519 AD in Mesoamerica, which followed the Postclassic and ends just before the Spanish conquest (there are historic documents for this period).
provenience: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: provenance
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The source, origin, or location of an artifact or feature and the recording of same. It is the position of an archaeological find in time and space, recorded three-dimensionally. The horizontal reference system is usually some form of grid tied to a reference datum; the vertical dimension is reference to a vertical datum. I.e., the three-dimensional position of an archaeological find in time and space and recorded from a known datum point at an archaeological site.
pseudo-archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pseudoarchaeology
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The use of selective archaeological evidence, real or imagined, to promulgate nonscientific, fictional accounts of the past.
public archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: A branch of archaeology dealing with the impact of construction and development on archaeological sites and laws enacted to lessen the threat. In the US, it has helped create the industries of salvage archaeology or cultural resource management (in the UK, rescue archaeology).
publication: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The final stage of archaeological research design, with the preparation of reports of the data and interpretations resulting from archaeological research.
pulsed induction meter: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pulse radar
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: An instrument used in electromagnetic surveying, mainly for the detection of metals, though on a limited scale it can be used to locate archaeological features. The instrument has a transmitter coil, which sends pulses of magnetic field to the ground: the continuous rising and falling of the field produces eddy currents in metal objects, and magnetic fields in susceptible soil. These are detected by a receiver coil. Only shallow features can be satisfactorily located, and it can be used to find metals, graves, and pottery.
Putnam, Frederic Ward (1839-1915): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Curator of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, from 1875-1909. He was a leader in the founding of anthropological science in the US. He was important as an archaeologist who classified and described finds and as an administrator and archaeological sponsor. In fieldwork, he depended on scientific techniques for surveying, excavating, drawing cross-sections of excavations, and plotting finds. He did studies of the mounds of the Midwest US and on the antiquity of humans on the continent, which he believed to predate the end of the last glaciation. In 1891, Putnam began organizing the anthropological section of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. That collection became the basis of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. He was the curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History following that and in 1903 he went to the University of California, Berkeley, to organize both the new department of anthropology and the anthropological museum. Putnam published more than 400 zoological and anthropological articles, reports, and notes and was also a founder and the editor of the periodical American Naturalist"."
Qala'at al Bahrain: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Tell site on the northern coast of Bahrain with an archaeological sequence for the central Persian Gulf region from the mid-3rd millennium BC to medieval times. The Barbar culture had seals, sealings, Indus weights, and cuneiform texts. It was followed by a Kassite period settlement and towns of the 1st millennium BC, including a Sassanian fortress.
quantitative archaeology: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Archaeological techniques dependent on counting, measuring, and the use of statistical methods and computers.
quarry: CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: An open excavation usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone. In archaeological terms, it is a cumulative feature resulting from the mining of mineral resources or a place where stone was removed from a larger source, e.g. to subsequently manufacture tools.
radar interferometry: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A process used to search for archaeological remains by receiving and analyzing electromagnetic radiation.
Rawlinson, General Sir Henry Creswicke (1810-1895): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: A British diplomat who was one of a group of scholars whose work on the trilingual inscription at Behistun (Iran) was instrumental in the decipherment of the cuneiform (leading to the decipherment of Old Persian and Akkadian) languages of western Asia. He copied the Behistun inscription, deciphered it, and published the translation of the Persian text in 1851 and of the Babylonian in 1857. Rawlinson also encouraged much archaeological research and excavation in Mesopotamia.
reclamation: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: reclamation process
CATEGORY: term; technique
DEFINITION: Any of various processes by which artifacts move from an archaeological context to an active status, i.e. are reclaimed" as when a later society makes use of objects deposited earlier. It is the transition of cultural materials from the archaeological record back into the systemic context such as the scavenging of archaeological artifacts for reuse by both nonindustrial and industrial peoples. The act of archaeological excavation is actually reclamation."
reclamation process: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: The transition of cultural materials from the archaeological record back into the systemic context; archaeological excavation itself is reclamation
reconnaissance: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: reconnaissance survey
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A broad range of techniques involved in the location of archaeological sites, e.g. surface survey and the recording of surface artifacts and features, the sampling of natural and mineral resources, and sometimes testing of an area to assess the number and extent of archaeological resources.
recording unit: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A specific location or feature that is defined as an entity for the purpose of recording archaeological data.
recovery unit: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A defined area from which archaeological materials are recovered, such as an excavation pit.
regional map: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: Any map designed to depict the distribution of archaeological sites within regions.
regional survey: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A broad survey that includes the total environmental setting around an archaeological site.
relational analogy: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any analogy justified on the basis of close cultural continuity between the archaeological and ethnographic cases
remote sensing: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The nondestructive techniques used in geophysical prospecting and to generate archaeological data without excavation. It is a general term for reconnaissance and surface survey techniques that leave subsurface archaeological deposits undisturbed. Reconnaissance and site survey methods use such devices as aerial photography and pedestrian survey to detect subsurface features and sites. It includes the detection of hidden archaeological features such as walls, pits, or roads by means of sound or radar impulses passed through the ground.
rescue archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: salvage archaeology, cultural resource management; rescue projects
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The branch of archaeology devoted to studying artifacts and features on sites which are imminently threatened by development in the form of the construction of dams, buildings, highways, etc. Threats to archaeological remains occur in the form of road-building, road improvement, new building of houses, offices, and industrial complexes, the flooding of valleys for reservoirs, and improved farming techniques involving the use of deep plowing. The rescue, or salvage, archaeologist, is concerned with the retrieval of as much information as possible about the archaeological sites before they are damaged or destroyed. Frequently time is too short and funds are too limited for anything but a brief survey.
research design: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A carefully formulated and systematic plan for executing archaeological research. Systematic planning of archaeological research, usually including 1) the formulation of a strategy to resolve a particular question; 2) the collection and recording of the evidence; 3) the processing and analysis of these data and its interpretation; and 4) the publication of results. It begins as a statement outlining these four key elements as a blueprint of archaeological research: statement of perspective, synthesis of the existing database, research domains, and relevant research strategy. Research design is carried out to ensure the efficient use of resources and to guide the research according to the scientific method.
resistivity meter: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: resistivity detector
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A geophysical instrument used to measure the electrical resistivity of the earth to identify buried features and structures. Since the resistivity of the soil changes with humidity, humus content, etc., the machine can detect pits, ditches, roads, floors, etc. This is generally done through an array of four electrodes, pushed into the ground surface. Despite their name, resistivity meters do not actually measure resistivity, but ground resistance. Resistivity is this resistance, standardized for the distance between the electrodes in the ground. The instrument consists of a source of electricity (a handle-operated dynamo in the megger earth tester, batteries in the tellohm, a transistor oscillator in the Martin-Clark meter) and a meter to record the results. All systems employ four steel probes connected by cable to the meter, two to carry the activating current, two to pick up the current passing through the ground. Also, the resistance between two roving probes is now compared with that between two distant static ones. Different spacing between the probes is employed in different conditions; where the probes are spaced equally, as in the Wenner configuration, features up to a depth equal to the probe-separation can be detected. Anomalous readings may indicate the presence of archaeological material.
resistivity surveying: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: resistivity survey
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A geosurvey survey technique that measures the electrical resistance of the ground for the location of buried features and structures. Any electrical exploration method in which current is introduced in the ground by two contact electrodes and potential differences are measured between two or more other electrodes. It relies on the principle that different deposits offer different resistance to the passage of an electric current depending largely on the amount of water present. A damp pit or ditch fill will offer less resistance, stone wall foundations more, than the surrounding soil. It is one of the most commonly used and least expensive geophysical surveying methods. Readings are taken in a grid-pattern of points all over a suspected site. Variation of resistance through a site is caused mainly by differences in the amount of water contained in pore spaces of deposits and structures. The outline of features may be seen if the readings are plotted as a plan. Although the technique is generally known as 'resistivity surveying', most archaeological surveys use only the ground resistance (in ohms). It compares well with magnetic surveying, as the instruments are simple and cheap and also because modern features such as power cables, iron scrap, and standing buildings do not affect the readings.
reuse process: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any human behavior that recycles and resuses artifacts before the artifact enters an archaeological context
salvage archaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: rescue archaeology; cultural resource management
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The branch of archaeology devoted to studying artifacts and features on sites which are imminently threatened by development in the form of the construction of dams, buildings, highways, etc. Threats to archaeological remains occur in the form of road-building, road improvement, new building of houses, offices, and industrial complexes, the flooding of valleys for reservoirs, and improved farming techniques involving the use of deep plowing. The rescue, or salvage, archaeologist, is concerned with the retrieval of as much information as possible about the archaeological sites before they are damaged or destroyed. Salvage archaeology is the location, recording (usually through excavation), and collection of archaeological data from a site in advance of highway construction, drainage projects, or urban development. In the US, the first major program of salvage archaeology was undertaken in the 1930s, ahead of the construction and dam building done by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Samian ware: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Terra Sigillata, terra sigillata ware
CATEGORY: ceramics
DEFINITION: A distinctive Roman pottery produced mainly in south and central Gaul and the Moselle valley in the first century BC and first three centuries AD; later it was made in Britain (Colchester). It was copied from Italian Arretine ware and was itself widely imitated. It is a red ware with a bright glossy surface, plain or elaborately decorated by means of molds. Its second name derives from the stamp with which the pottery frequently added his name to his products. The maker's name was stamped on the pottery, but the decorations, the shape, the fabric, all help in dating and tracing its origin. The shapes come from metal prototypes. The forms, decorations, and stamps have allowed a detailed chronology to be established. The wares provide a valuable means of dating the other archaeological material found with them.
sample: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Any subset of a population; a set of units selected from a population. In statistics, a sample refers to a representative group of objects, cases or items, selected from a larger population. The degree to which a sample is truly representative is controlled by the size of the sample and biasing factors affecting its selection. The larger the sample and the smaller the bias, the more representative the sample. All groups of archaeological material are samples, selected through preservation and choice of site, of an original population. The term sample is also used to describe the small sections cut from artifacts in order to do dating and analysis.
sample unit: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The basic unit of archaeological investigation; a subdivision of the data universe. It is an arbitrary or nonarbitrary unit of the data universe, used for sampling archaeological data.
sample, quadrat: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An archaeological research design in which the sampling element is a square or rectangular grid.
sample, transect: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An archaeological research design in which the sampling element is a fairly long linear unit.
sampling: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The process of selecting part of a site for excavation or an area for fieldwork, preferably according to a strategy which allows statistical estimates and generalizations of the relation of the sample to the unexplored parts of the whole site or area. In a way, all archaeological fieldwork and excavation is sampling, since it is impossible to collect all the data from the complex mass of an archaeological site. Selection may be arbitrary or nonarbitrary -- perhaps by the need for particular evidence for a specific question (a 'judgment sample'); the question itself will be determined by the existing framework of archaeological thought. In a more specific sense, sampling or probabilistic or random sampling, uses the theory of probability to make estimates of how closely the observations obtained from the part examined ('sample') represent the characteristics of the whole group being studied ('population'), by using fixed rules of random selection so that each unit is given a known chance of selection. The area under study may be divided into sub-zones (strata) and each stratum can be sampled separately to give a more precise estimate of the whole population. The choice of sample design, the size of the sample units, and the proportion of the population sampled (the sampling fraction) will all affect the result, but even with quite small fractions accurate estimates of the entire population of sites within an area can be obtained. The method is particularly good at estimating the number of different types of site within the area. Methods are also being developed for the sampling of large groups of artifacts; excavations frequently produce very large quantities of bone or flint, and it has been shown that often it is necessary to study only a small sample of the whole population to obtain a reliable estimate of its character.
San'in: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: District of Honshu Island, Japan, used in archaeological documents, comprising parts of modern Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures, and Tottori and Shimane prefectures.
San'yo: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: District of Honshu Island, Japan, used in archaeological documents, comprising modern Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, and Okayama prefectures and part of Hyogo prefecture.
Sassanian: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The Persian dynasty which overthrew the Parthian empire in 224 AD and ruled until conquered by Islam in 651. The empire extended from India to Syria, where they fought with the Romans. Remains include rock reliefs, Sassanian metalwork, fine stamp seals, textiles. Archaeologically they are known from impressive architectural remains of palaces, temples, and fortifications and from the rock reliefs. Important Sassanian sites include Bishapur, Firuzabad, Naqsh-i Rustam, and Siraf.
scaled drawing: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Standardized rendering used to record archaeological data, especially during data acquisition. It would include elevation, isometric, perspective, plan, profile, and section drawings.
scavenging: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The nonscientific or amateur removal of archaeological materials from a site by later inhabitants or visitors to a site.
seasonality of occupation: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: seasonality
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The exploitation of different environments at different times of the year by the same group of people; an estimate of when during the year a particular archaeological site was occupied. Transhumance is one instance of this practice, where high pastureland is grazed in the summer. There was also exploitation of water resources for fish or water birds; the following of wild herds by hunter-gatherers. The people usually moved back to their original starting place each year.
secondary context: CATEGORY: technique; term
DEFINITION: A context of an archaeological find that has been disturbed by subsequent human activity or natural phenomena. The provenience, association, and matrix of such archaeological data have been wholly or partially altered by transformational processes after original deposition.
section: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: sectioning, section drawing
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: In excavation, the exposing of a deposit vertically to reveal the stratigraphy of a site or details of a particular feature. A balk is left across a feature or a complex of features, or a hole is cut out of a feature and trimmed to a flat face in which layers and changes in soil color may be examined. Sections automatically occur when the grid method of excavation is used, on all four sides of each trench. The term is also applied to the drawing of the vertical record of the stratification of a site or feature. A section drawing is a two-dimensional rendering, at a constant scale, depicting archaeological data and matrix as seen in the wall of an excavation. Advocates of open-area excavation prefer not to have standing sections on the site; instead of drawing sections after the whole area has been excavated, they record the profile of each deposit as it is excavated and construct what are known as 'cumulative' or 'running sections'.
sediment: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A layer of soil, organic material, or rock particles which are no longer in the place where they were formed geologically but which have been redeposited away from their source. The agents of redeposition can be weathering, erosion, decay, soil-forming processes, and man himself. The material is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice; or a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. Thus an archaeological site is a complicated sequence of various sediments and soils. The study of such sequences is called stratigraphy.
sedimentation: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: sedimentary petrology, sedimentology
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The process of deposition of a solid material from a state of suspension or solution in a fluid (air, water, ice). It also includes deposits from glacial ice and those materials collected by gravity, or accumulations of rock debris at the base of cliffs. Depending on the conditions of sedimentation, archaeological deposits may be buried intact or with redistribution of the pre-existing material.
seeds: CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: A variety of seeds may be preserved on archaeological sites by charring, grain impressions, or as a result of waterlogging. They may be the seeds of weed plants, fruits, pulses (see Beans), or the grains of cereals.
Segesta: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Greek Egesta
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Ancient city of Sicily, north of modern Calatafimi, which was the chief city of the Elymi. The Elymi may have been of Trojan origin; they are archaeologically indistinguishable in the Early Iron Age (c 1000-500 BC) from their Sicanian neighbors. Segesta had a Greek culture, but it often sided with the Carthaginians against its Greek neighbors (mainly Selinus). Early in the First Punic War, Segesta massacred the Carthaginian garrison and allied themselves with Rome. It became a free city under Roman rule. Segesta ruins include an unfinished 5th-century BC temple and a Hellenistic theater. The city site is on the plateau adjacent to the theater. The surviving 5th-century temple, which stood outside the original city, is usually seen as a distinguished, but unfinished example; it has a colonnade, but no interior cella.
seismic surveying: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method of remote sensing that uses vibrations sent into the earth which are flected back by buried matter, helping to locate archaeological deposits.
selective excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The archaeological excavation of parts of a site using sampling methods or carefully placed trenches but which do not uncover the entire site.
sequence dating: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method developed by Sir Flinders Petrie (for Egyptian predynastic cemeteries) for dating a group of similar objects according to their archaeological sequence. By studying the typology the changing forms of certain artifacts, they may be set into sequence. Petrie used it to arrange undated graves into a hypothetical (relative) chronological order according to the typology and association of the artifacts found in them (based on a stylistic seriation of Egyptian pre-dynastic tomb pottery). Artifacts found at other sites were then correlated with the sequence and given a sequence date. The technique can only be used to determine whether one type of artifact is earlier or later than another; it cannot show length of time between two. This type of seriation, when combined with cross-dating, is still useful in the absence of other dating methods.
seriation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A relative dating technique in which artifacts or features are organized into a sequence according to changes over time in their attributes or frequency of appearance. The technique shows how these items have changed over time and it is a way to establish chronology. Archaeological material, such as assemblages of pottery or the grave goods deposited with burials, are arranged into chronological order. The types that comprise the assemblages to be ordered in this way must be from the same archaeological tradition, and from a single region or locality. Once the variations in a particular object have been classified by typology, it can often be shown that they fall into a developmental series, sometimes in a single line, sometimes in branching lines more as in a family tree. The order produced is theoretically chronological, but will need archaeological assessment. Outside evidence, such as dating of two or more stages in the development, may be needed to determine which is the first and which the last member of the series. There are several types of seriation: frequency seriation, contextual seriation, evolutionary seriation, and similarity / stylistic seriation -- based on different changes. A seriation technique, called sequence dating, based on shared typological features, enabled Sir Flinders Petrie to establish the temporal order of a large number of Egyptian graves.
settlement pattern: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: settlement pattern study
CATEGORY: technique; term
DEFINITION: The study of ancient human occupation and activity patterns within a specified area -- the distribution of features and sites, buildings, and other constructions in relation to the topography of a given area. Archaeological studies of settlement patterns deal with such matters as urbanization, the relationship between town, village, and countryside, and the operation of administrative centers. Findings reflect the relationship of the inhabitants with their environment, and the relationship of groups with each other within that environment. Factors influencing the pattern of settlement in any area may include the subsistence strategy, the political structure, the social structure, population density, and carrying capacity.
shadow marks: CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: Surface shadows of an archaeological site that are caused by irregularities in elevation, indicating the presence of submerged features such as earthworks and ditches. These may be revealed through aerial photography. Shadow marks are best seen in the low sun of evenings and early mornings.
shadow sites: CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: Surface shadows on an archaeological site that are caused by irregularities in elevation, indicating the presence of submerged features such as earthworks and ditches. Such sites are identified from the air, especially in aerial photography. Shadow sites are best seen in the low sun of evenings and early mornings. Oblique light can show reduced topography of sites invisible from the ground.
Shang: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Yin; Shang civilization
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The first dynasty recorded historically, thought to have ruled from the mid-16th to mid-11th century BC (Some scholars date the Shang dynasty from the mid-18th to the late 12th century BC.). However, Shang as an archaeological term must be distinguished from Shang as a dynastic one. Earlier stages of the culture known from Anyang have been recognized at sites assigned to the Erligang Phase and, still earlier, the Erlitou phase. So far virtually no inscriptions have been found at these pre-Anyang sites; even if the date of the dynasty's founding were known it would be uncertain to what extent these archaeologically defined phases fall within the Shang period. Thus while the type site of the Erligang phase at Zhengzhou is generally assumed to have been a Shang capital, some archaeologists have argued that the Erlitou phase falls in the time of the Hsia dynasty, traditional predecessor of Shang. The archaeological classification of Middle Shang is represented by the remains found at Erligang (Erh-li-kang) (c 1600 BC) near Cheng-chou (Zhengzhou). The Shang replaced the Hsia (Zia) in c 1500 BC and was overthrown by the Chou in 1027 BC. The Shang dynasty belongs technically to the advanced Bronze Age -- with that metal used for tools (socketed axes, knives, etc.), weapons (halberds, spears, and arrowheads) and for the highly ornamented and artistic ritual vessels. There was a fine white pottery and coarser grey wares, wheelmade and occasionally glazed, which clearly derive from the preceding Neolithic pottery. The period's claim to rank as a civilization is supported by the size and complexity of its cities and its use of writing. Two of its capitals have been identified, at modern Cheng-chou and Anyang, both in Honan province near the middle Yellow River. Rich cemeteries provide much of the evidence, particularly the royal tombs at Anyang. Building was mainly in timber on rammed earth foundations; city walls were also of rammed earth. Burial was by inhumation in pit graves with the skeletons extended, some face down. The pictographic writing appears as occasional inscriptions on the bronzes, much more commonly on the enormous number of oracle bones. The Shang was the second of the Chinese dynasties in the Protohistoric Sandai period.
shard: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: sherd; potsherd
CATEGORY: ceramics; artifact
DEFINITION: Any pottery fragment -- piece of broken pot or other earthenware item -- that has archaeological significance. Often abbreviated to sherd, potsherds are an invaluable part of the archaeological record because they are well-preserved. The analysis of ceramic changes recorded in potsherds has become one of the primary techniques used by archaeologists in assigning components and phases to times and cultures.
sheep: CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: A ruminant (cud-chewing) mammal of the genus Ovis, usually stockier than its relative the goat. Sheep were first domesticated from wild species of sheep by at least 5000 BC, and their remains have been found at numerous sites of early human habitation in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Domesticated sheep are raised for their fleece (wool), for milk, and for meat. The flesh of mature sheep is called mutton; that of immature animals is called lamb. The moufflon (Ovis orientalis) of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq, was the first food animal to be tamed, probably c 9000 BC. The urial (O. vignei) lived further east, between the Caspian and Tibet and its bones have been identified c 4900 BC, and it was introduced into Europe in the Neolithic. In practice, the bones of sheep and goats from archaeological sites are lumped together by many researchers who do not distinguish between them in archaeological site reports and refer instead to sheep/goat, ovicaprid, caprovine etc. as only a few of them, notably the horn cores, are firmly diagnostic. Goats are distinguished from sheep by differences in scent glands, lack of 'beard', the number of chromosomes, and the possession of tightly curled horns.
shell midden: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: shell mound
CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: An archaeological deposit consisting of a refuse mound of discarded shells, offering evidence of early human use of certain mollusks. These often extensive heaps are the result of many years of exploitation of marine resources as a main or supplementary food source. Shell middens provide information on diet, harvesting techniques, subsistence economy, and seasonality.
sherd: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: shard, potsherd
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Any pottery fragment -- piece of broken pot or other earthenware item -- that has archaeological significance. Often abbreviated to sherd, potsherds are an invaluable part of the archaeological record because they are well-preserved. The analysis of ceramic changes recorded in potsherds has become one of the primary techniques used by archaeologists in assigning components and phases to times and cultures.
shotgun survey: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The use of intuition about prehistoric settlement and landscape to focus a survey on a likely archaeological site.
shovel test: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: shovel testing, shovel pit testing
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A subsurface detection technique using either posthole diggers or shovels to quickly determine the density and distribution of archaeological remains. Samples of soil from carefully selected test pits that are sieved for artifacts. Also, a shovel-sized sample taken at various intervals across a site.
Shungurian: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An industry of the lower Omo Valley north of Lake Turkana, Ethiopia, known for its remains of animals and hominids. Several archaeological deposits have been discovered on the site, dating back two million years. The industry is based on very small quartz flakes made from a nucleus or from the accidental shattering of pebbles used as percussion tools.
sidewall: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: side wall
CATEGORY: feature
DEFINITION: The vertical margin of an archaeological excavation; the vertical side of an excavation pit. It is an important record of site stratigraphy and often provides the axis for measuring artifact provenience.
sieving: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique of particle size analysis used to determine the size grades of pebble gravel, sand, and coarse silt in sediment and soils of archaeological deposits. The archaeologist processes all the earth from the site through a fine mesh, then does dry screening in a shaker frame or wet sieving with flowing water. It improves the recovery rate of artifacts. For lighter soils, dry sieving may be effective. Wet sieving is used for more claylike material and for recovering bones, shells, seeds, and other biological remains. The sieved residues are then dried and sorted by hand. The sample is placed on the top sieve of a series of nested sieves. Sieve mesh sizes are standardized. Wet sieving as part of a flotation technique is used to recover small remains from sites.
signature: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Traces in the archaeological record that can be linked to particular patterns of activity.
Single Grave culture: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Single-Grave Culture
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Late Neolithic cultures of Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Low Countries, dated to c 2800-2400 BC. The burial rite was inhumation of a single corpse under or within a round barrow, and sometimes laid in a pit grave or a mortuary house. The burials include the stone battle-ax and corded ware beakers. The Single Grave culture has traditionally been regarded as intrusive in northern Europe because of the contrast with the collective burial in megalithic tombs practiced by the earlier Neolithic TRB people in the same area. It is possible that it developed out of the TRB culture and that the changes in the archaeological record at this time can be explained in terms of changing social systems -- more complex social structures and the emergence of elites. The burial mounds are sometimes multi-phase with the sequence of under-grave, bottom-grave, and over-grave.
site: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Any location that demonstrates past human activity, as evidence by the presence of artifacts, features, ecofacts, or other material remains; a single place in which excavation or reconnaissance has revealed objects or data of archaeological interest. The definition implies that such a location was utilized by humans for a sufficient period of time to develop features or become a deposit ground for artifacts. Sites can range from small, temporary camps to large, complex cities, from a living site to a quarry site, and from one artifact to many levels of occupation. Major types of sites include domestic / habitation sites, kill-sites, and processing / butchering sites.
site datum: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: datum point
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The master control point on an archaeological site, into which all measurements are tied.
site structure: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The arrangement of the various components of an archaeological site, including artifacts, features, and structures. Site structure analysis identifies how a space was organized and used and how it related to aspects of the cultural system. Site structure analyses are used to make warranting arguments in the context of the archaeological record and are often done in ethnoarchaeological studies.
site surface survey map: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: SSS
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A systematic and accurate map of an archaeological site and its surroundings.
site survey: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The collection of surface data and evaluation of a site's archaeological significance.
site-formation processes: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: site formation process; formation process
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The total of the processes -- natural and cultural, individual and combined -- that affected the formation and development of the archaeological record. Natural formation processes refer to natural or environmental events which govern the burial and survival of the archaeological record. Cultural formation processes include the deliberate or accidental activities of humans. On a settlement site, for example, the nature of human occupation, the activities carried out, the pattern of breakage and loss of material, rubbish disposal, rebuilding, or re-use of the same area will all influence the surviving archaeological deposits. After the site's abandonment, it will be further affected by such factors as erosion, glaciation, later agriculture, the activities of plants and animals, as well as the natural processes of chemical action in the soil. Reconstruction of these processes helps to relate the observed evidence of an archaeological site to the human activity responsible for it.
skeleton: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The bony supporting element in the bodies of vertebrate animals. It consists of the axial skeleton -- skull (including teeth) and vertebral column -- and the appendicular skeleton -- ribs, girdles and limbs. In man, the proportions of various bones are fairly generalized, but in other animals bones may become eliminated, elongated, or strengthened. Only broken fragments of the skeleton usually survive on archaeological sites, except in such cases as deliberate burial. For this reason, human bones are often studied separately from those of other animals. In the case of most animals, the parts which survive are a function of butchery. Identification of species may be possible when there is a considerable number of fragments.
Slav: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Term used for the ethnic groups speaking related languages in eastern Europe during the second half of the 1st millennium AD. They inhabited an area concentrated in modern Poland, and by the early Middle Ages they were considered a distinct cultural group. The origins of the Slavs are obscure, though they seem to derive from the Iron Age tribes indigenous to the Oder-Vistula area. Prehistorically, the original habitat of the Slavs was Asia, from which they migrated in the 3rd or 2nd millennium BC to populate parts of eastern Europe. Subsequently, these European lands of the Slavs were crossed or settled by many peoples forced by economic conditions to migrate. State-level polities began in Greater Moravia in the 9th century AD and in Poland in the 10th century. They are principally defined by linguistic and place-name evidence rather than by historical or archaeological remains. The gród or hrad (castle") was the stronghold of Slav communities. It is the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe residing also across northern Asia to the Pacific Ocean. Slavic languages belong to the Indo-European family. Customarily Slavs are subdivided into east Slavs (Russians Ukrainians and Belarusians) west Slavs (Poles Czechs Slovaks and Wends or Sorbs) and south Slavs (Serbs Croats Slovenes and Macedonians)."
slopewash: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A type of sediment formed by soil and rubble being moved down hillslopes. The deposit may be caused by solifluxion or by plowwash. The poorly sorted deposit can sometimes carry the remains of archaeological sites downhill with it, resulting in a false location and mixed material.
small mammal bone: CATEGORY: fauna
DEFINITION: The bones of a mammal traditionally defined as one which cannot be seen above long grass. This includes a variety of rodents, lagomorphs (hares and rabbits), insectivores, and carnivores. Bones of these animals are often preserved on archaeological sites. Identification of teeth and jaws of the smaller animals is relatively easy. The composition of small mammal faunas may be interpreted in terms of the environment within and surrounding the archaeological site.
Smith, Charles Roach (1807-1890): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: The founder in 1843 of British Archaeological Association, who gave the British Museum 5,000 items from his collection. He also gave artifacts to a private museum at Strood in Kent and published seven volumes of Collectanea Antiqua (1848-1880).
Soan: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A Lower Palaeolithic pebble tool and chopper industry of the Punjab (Pakistan) and northwest India. After a pre-Soan phase, the Soan proper begins during the second Himalayan interglacial, and its final stage, with an increase in flake tools (including some made by the Levallois technique), is probably contemporary with the early part of the Würm glaciation of Alpine Europe. There were handaxes and chopper / chopping tools. Some of the material has been redated to the Middle Palaeolithic and has questionable archaeological validity.
sociofact: CATEGORY: term; artifact
DEFINITION: Archaeological data resulting from past human social activities; an object whose primary function is to express or establish social rank, rather than to serve practical or ideological needs. An example is an ax that is used as a symbol of chiefdom rather than as a weapon.
soil conductivity meter: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A geophysical instrument used in electromagnetic surveying for the detection of metal, but also for the location of archaeological features such as shallow pits, which have a different conductivity from the surrounding soil. The instrument has a transmitter coil which is fed with a continuous sinusoidal current, and a receiver coil; they are mounted at right angles to each other at opposite ends of a horizontal bar about a meter long. The instrument is designed to pick up differences in conductivity between features and the surrounding soil, i.e. the reverse of a resistivity meter. Resistivity surveying is considered more sensitive and versatile.
soil geomorphology: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Study of the interaction of pedogenic and geomorphic processes to interpret landscapes. The physical context of archaeological material is determined and evaluated by soil geomorphic techniques.
soil horizon: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A layer in a soil developed through the natural weathering of geological and archaeological surfaces. It differs from related layers chemically, physically, or biologically. Sequences of related soil horizons make up the soil profile.
solifluction: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: solifluxion, sludging, soil flow, soil fluction, soil flowage
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The slippage of soil and rock particles due to the freezing and subsequent thawing of the earth; the process of mass movement of soil and sediment upon the thawing of water-laden ground. Many deposits in valleys and on the lower part of hills are due to the land having been glaciated, with the top level thawing in the spring and the water, unable to permeate the still-frozen subsoil, flowing downhill, taking with it chunks of loose material. Full glaciation is not necessary to cause solifluxion; hard winters with frozen earth and occasional thaws can cause minor solifluxion that may add to the accumulation of material. Solifluction can cause artifactual material to be moved from one deposit to another; sometimes whole areas of archaeological sites may be covered with solifluction material. When solifluction can be recognized geologically, it is a valuable indicator of glacial conditions in areas which remained free of ice.
Solomon Islands: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Island nation in the center of Melanesia, southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Solomon Islands were initially settled by 2000 BC, probably by people of the Austronesian language group. The first European to reach the islands was the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1568; the islands were named after the wealthy king Solomon of the Old Testament. Archaeological sequences are best known from the northern and southern extremities of the chain; the Santa Cruz islands in the south have very fine Lapita assemblages dating to c 1500-500 BC, and the island of Buka in the north has a continuous sequence from late Lapita (c 500 BC) through successive localized ceramic phases (similar to the Mangaasi tradition of Vanuatu) to recent times.
spatial analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The statistical study of concentrations of human activity in a defined space; the systematic study of spatial patterning in archaeological data. Distribution maps showing artifacts or sites have long been used in archaeology, but spatial analysis adds rigorous mathematical and statistical techniques for examining such maps. Techniques adapted from modern geography include locational analysis for the study of settlement patterns, and the use of distance-decay functions, linear regression analysis, and trend-surface analysis for exploring the distribution of artifacts.
spatial archaeology: CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of the interrelationship of archaeological sites with each other and with their environments, or the distribution patterns of artifacts, using analytical methods derived from geography.
spatial context: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The location of an object and its spatial relation to other objects in the archaeological record.
specific analogy: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An analogy used in archaeological interpretation based on specific comparisons documented within a single cultural tradition.
spectrographic analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Method for quantitative analysis of small samples of various compounds which has high accuracy. It involves passing the light refracted from a sample through a prism or diffraction grating that spreads out the wavelengths of trace elements into a spectrum. This enables the identification of different trace elements and depends on the fact that light emitted by any element on volatilization shows a characteristic pattern when split by a prism into its spectrum. The elements present can be measured by the intensity of the lines in comparison with control spectra of known composition produced under the same conditions. A small sample can be used, less than 10 milligrams, making the method particularly suitable for archaeological material. The method has been used especially for metal analysis, giving useful information on technology and sources of the raw materials, and also for glass, faience, pottery, and obsidian.
speleothem: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cave deposit
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: Mineral deposits that form in a cave after the creation of the cave itself. These deposits are generally composed of calcium carbonate dissolved from the surrounding limestone by groundwater. Carbon dioxide carried in the water is released as the water encounters the cave air; this reduces the water's capacity to hold calcite in solution and causes the calcite to be deposited. These deposits may accumulate to form stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, cave pearls, and many other formations. Speleothem growth can be dated by the uranium series dating method. Speleothems can potentially bury earlier archaeological deposits.
spinning: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The extrusion of liquid fiber-forming material, followed by hardening to form filaments; a technical process by which fibers are twisted together to make continuous threads. The wool was fixed as a mass on the distaff. A thread was drawn out by one hand and fixed on the spindle. Attached to this last was a stone spindle whorl. As the spindle was spun around the whorl gave momentum on the flywheel principle. The thread from the distaff was twisted and then wound on to the spindle. Rarely are the threads, or cloth woven from them, are found in archaeological contexts, unless preserved by desiccation, waterlogging, or metal corrosion products. Proof of spinning comes more commonly from the discovery of a spindle whorl, loom weight, or comb. Spinning was engaged in during Neolithic times.
Spiro: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in eastern Oklahoma of the Mississippian Tradition (Middle Mississippi) Caddo culture beginning in the 8th century AD as a village of one-room houses, and by 950 had reached its maximum extent with the addition of eight burial mounds. The eight mounds are of various sizes and one served as a temple mound and burial mound (Craig Mound). In about 1200, Spiro was abandoned as a settlement and became a specialized mortuary and temple complex. To this final period, 1350-1400, belongs the enormous Craig Mound, covering an intact wooden mortuary house. Commoners and servants received only simple burial, but the ruling elite were placed in funerary litters filled with weapons, fabrics, smoking pipes, imported minerals, and copper, and shell ornaments decorated with designs of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (Southern Cult). Because of its abundance of paraphernalia of the Southern Cult, it is often linked to the centers at Etoway and Moundville, even though it is culturally distinct from them. Many of designs on carved shell gorgets and embossed sheet copper ornaments probably came from Mesoamerica, perhaps from Huastec culture of Veracruz. The site's archaeological value has been considerably diminished, as it was heavily vandalized during a period of commercial exploitation in the 1930s.
spoil pile: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: back dirt
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The soil and other materials that accumulate as a result of excavations at an archaeological site, used to refill units when excavations are complete.
stage: CATEGORY: term; chronology
DEFINITION: A level of cultural development characterized by a technology and its associated social and ideological features; a large-scale archaeological unit consisting of a well-defined level of development attained by a particular culture area. The adoption of agriculture, for instance, had profound cultural and social consequences, raising people to a higher stage. This technological subdivision of prehistoric time has little chronological meaning beyond the regional (as it may be continental or global), an example being the Stone Age, though stages are integral parts of the chronological sequencing of culture history.
standardized form: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: Any preformatted information sheet to be completed in the field for recording archaeological data, especially during data acquisition, data processing, and analysis.
steel: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: An alloy of iron and carbon in which the carbon content amounts to about 2 percent or less. Steel appears in the archaeological record during the Iron Age and was usually produced by carburization of wrought iron. In this process, the iron is heated in a hearth with charcoal to about 800 degrees Centigrade. Carbon diffuses into the surface of the metal to make steel. As only the surface is affected, only thin strips of steel could be made by this method. Some Iron Age artifacts are made of such steel strips forged together. Further processes such as quenching and tempering were known from Roman times. Viking swords combined the strength of wrought iron with the hardness of steel, using a technique known as pattern welding.
Stein, Sir Mark Aurel (1862-1943): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British archaeologist and explorer born in Hungary who was a great traveler of central and western Asia (especially Chinese Turkistan), recording an extraordinary number of archaeological sites. He was also Superintendent of the Indian Archaeological Survey (1910-29).
Steward, Julian Haynes (1902-1972): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: American anthropologist and archaeologist who influenced archaeological theory, emphasizing that the goals of both disciplines were the same: understanding of cultural change and the plotting of that change on spatial and temporal planes. His best-known book was Theory of Culture Change: the Methodology of Multilinear Evolution" (1955) and he also wrote "Handbook of South American Indians" (1946-1950) and "Irrigation Civilizations" (1955). He carried out fieldwork in the Great Basin British Columbia and the Andes planned and helped establish the Virú Valley project. He worked for the use of evolutionary and ecological thought in anthropology and archaeology; he is known as the as the founder of the theory of cultural ecology."
stone line: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A subsurface sheet of stones one layer thick within a soil which appears as a line parallel to the soil surface. Stone lines of geologic origin may contribute to the formation of ferruginous horizons; they may contain archaeological debris. The interpretation of archaeological debris within a stone line context depends on proper interpretation of the origin of the stone line.
stone zone: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A subsurface bed of stones or stone material within a soil that is larger than one layer thick; they may contain archaeological debris. Similar to stone lines, the origin of a stone zone is necessary for interpretation of the archaeological debris within this context.
strata: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: sing. stratum; layers
CATEGORY: feature; term
DEFINITION: The definable layers of archaeological matrix or features revealed by excavation; units of sedimentation greater than one centimeter thick. A layer in which archaeological material -- as artifacts, skeletons, and dwelling remains -- is found during excavation. It is the more or less homogeneous or gradational material, visually separable from other levels by a discrete change in the character of the material being deposited or a sharp break in deposition (or both).
stratification: CATEGORY: term; geology
DEFINITION: An arrangement or deposition of sediment or sedimentary rocks in a sequence of layers (strata); the accumulated sequence of strata on an archaeological site. A succession of layers should provide a relative chronological sequence, with the earliest at the bottom and the latest at the top. Stratification is the basis for stratigraphy.
stratigraphic section: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The excavation of trenches and squares across manmade layers to expose a cross-section of the deposits on an archaeological site and to reveal the sequence and methods of construction.
stratigraphic sequence: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The order of the deposition of layers and the creation of feature interfaces on an archaeological site through the course of time.
stratigraphy: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The study and interpretation of the stratification of rocks, sediments, soils, or cultural debris, based on the principle that the lowest layer is the oldest and the uppermost in the youngest -- a major tool in establishing a relative dating sequence. The sequence of deposition can be assessed by a study of the relationships of different layers. Dateable artifacts found within layers, and layers or structures which are themselves dateable, can be used to date parts of stratigraphic sequences. An archaeologist has to master the skill to recognize it -- to distinguish one deposit from another by its color, texture, smell, or contents; to understand it -- to explain how each layer came to be added, whether by natural accumulation, deliberate fill, or collapse of higher-standing buildings; and to record it in measured drawings of the section. There can be problems where a feature filled with one type of material cuts into layers of the same material. Unless the later feature is recognized, objects of two different phases may appear to be stratified together. The underlying principles are: law of superposition, law of cross-cutting relationships, included fragments, and correlation by fossil inclusions. The stratigraphy principle was adopted from geology and is the basis of reconstructing the history of an archaeological site.
stratum: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pl. strata; layer
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The definable layers of archaeological matrix or features revealed by excavation; units of sedimentation greater than one centimeter thick. A layer in which archaeological material -- as artifacts, skeletons, and dwelling remains -- is found during excavation. It is the more or less homogeneous or gradational material, visually separable from other levels by a discrete change in the character of the material being deposited or a sharp break in deposition (or both).
stray find: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: An object of some kind -- pottery, metalwork, a coin, etc. -- which has not been found in an archaeological context. Stray finds are useful if the total distribution of a particular type of object is required, but the absence of associated material or structures makes their interpretation difficult.
strict random sampling: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The use of random number methods in the selection of locations for archaeological testing and exploraiton to the exclusion of all other methods.
Strong, William Duncan (1899-1962): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: American anthropologist who was a pioneer of Plains archaeology and one of the founders of modern Peruvian archaeology. He excavated extensively on coast of Nazca, in Pachacamac, Paracas, and Viru Valley. He also worked on south coast and defined stylistic relationships between the various pre-Inca cultures of the area. Strong helped developed the Direct Historical Approach of working back through archaeological sequences from the known historical past.
structuralist approaches: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: structuralism
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Interpretations which stress that human actions are guided by codes and rules, beliefs and symbolic concepts, and that culture is the cumulative creations of these minds. Structuralist approaches attempt to uncover the structures of thought and to study their influence in shaping the ideas in the minds of the humans who created the archaeological record.
structured deposition: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Material entering the archaeological record through specific activities or behavior patterns, not randomly.
subarea: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The subdivision of an archaeological area, usually defined by geographic or cultural considerations.
Sulawesi: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Largest island of eastern Indonesia, with a possible late Pleistocene industry from Cabenge and with many rock shelters having Toalian assemblages. The Paso shell midden in Minahasa and the Kalumpang Neolithic site are of archaeological interest.
surface collection: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Systematic gathering of exposed artifacts or ecofacts. It is one of two basic ground survey methods used in surface survey of archaeological sites, the other being mapping.
surface map: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: preliminary surface map
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: A systematic but preliminary map of an archaeological site.
surface site: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Area where archaeological remains can be found on the surface of the ground.
surface survey: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: site surface survey
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method of data collection in which archaeological finds are gathered from the ground surface of sites and then evaluated. Surface survey helps to establish the types of activity on the site, locate major structures, and gather information on the most densely occupied areas of the site that could be most productive for total or sample excavation. There are two basic kinds of surface survey: unsystematic and systematic. The former involves fieldwalking, i.e. scanning the ground along one's path and recording the location of artifacts and surface features. Systematic survey less subjective and involves a grid system which is walked systematically, thus making the recording of finds more accurate. Surface survey usually includes the mapping of features. The study of the distribution of surviving features, and the recording and possible collecting of artifacts from the surface.
surveying: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: survey
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A means of examining the surface of an archaeological site for the purpose of recording before and during excavation and for creating a preliminary analysis. This method does not destroy remains but enables study through observation and analysis. Surveying often uses geophysical methods, including measurements of variations in earth's magnetism. Surveying makes it possible to conduct a rapid study of fairly extensive areas. Increasing use is now being made of electronic surveying equipment and photogrammetry for surveying sites. The term survey" also refers to the three-dimensional plotting of a site and its features and artifacts."
systematic settlement survey: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The reconnaissance of an archaeological site based on a sampling design which is intended to ensure that all types of areas within the region will be surveyed.
systematics: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The definition of a system of classification for archaeological units for a particular purpose.
Tanis: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ancient Djanet; biblical Zoan; modern San al-Hajar al-Qibliyah
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Most important archaeological site in the northeastern Nile Delta of Egypt and capital of 14th nome of Lower Egypt in the Late Period (747-332 BC) and, at one time, of the entire country. There are massive mud-brick temple enclosure walls built by Ramesside and the 21st-Dynasty pharaohs. The site is best known for the rich royal tombs of the 21st and 22nd Dynasties of c 1070-715 BC, built near the great temple of Amon. Silver coffins, gold masks, and jewelry in gold and silver have been found and the tombs and some sarcophagi were reused from earlier periods. The Tanite Dynasty is the 21st dynasty of Egypt (1075-945 BC). The pharaohs of the 22nd Dynasty continued to reside at Tanis until the collapse of their shrinking domain in 712 BC.
taphonomic theory: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A theory that argues that while the archaeological record may manifest human behavior when it is deposited, the natural world then mixes those materials and confuses interpretation.
taphonomy: CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of the transformation of organic remains after death to form fossil and archaeological remains. The study includes the processes that disturb and damage bones before, during, and after burial -- burial, decay, and preservation. The term combines the Greek word for tomb or burial (taphos) with that for law (nomos). The focus is on an understanding of the processes resulting in the archaeological record.
technofact: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: An artifact that was used for a practical function, such as providing food, shelter, or defense, rather than connected to social or ideological activity. The term is also more generally applied to archaeological data resulting from past technological activities.
temporal context: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The age or date of an archaeological finds and its temporal (time) relation to other objects in the archaeological record.
Tenochtitlán: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The Aztec capital, built on islands in Lake Texcoco (1325 AD), which once was the center of the Valley of Mexico; few remains survive underneath present-day Mexico City. The Aztecs built artificial islands and constructed houses, other buildings, and chinampas them and then connected to the mainland by three giant causeways. The population may have been as high as 400,000 people over five square miles. Under the ruler Itzcóatl (1428-1440), Tenochtitlán formed alliances with the neighboring states of Texcoco and Tlacopan and became the dominant power in central Mexico. By commerce and conquest, Tenochtitlán came to rule an empire of 400-500 small states --by 1519 some 5-6,000,000 people over 80,000 square miles. Accounts describe 25 pyramid-temples with nine priests' quarters, seven tzompantli (sacrificial racks), two ball courts, and a huge plaza consisting of the Great Temple with the temples of Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli. The city was taken by Hernando Cortes and the Spaniards in 1519 and by 1522 it was virtually destroyed. The Spaniards built their own city on the site. Some archaeological remains were discovered during the building of a subway in Mexico City.
Teotihuacán: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Very important site north of Mexico City, at its peak c 450-650 AD the largest and most powerful city in Mesoamerica. It had its beginnings as one of a number of small agricultural settlements around the shores of ancient Lake Texcoco. Teotihuacán flourished by c 300/200 BC and by 100 AD, it had about 40,000 inhabitants. Archaeological work has provided more information about Teotihuacán than about any comparable Mexican site. Teotihuacán maintained extensive political and trade contacts with lowland Mexico, and is famed for its enormous public buildings and pyramids. At its heart is a complex of magnificent architecture including the massive Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon, the Cuidadela (probably an administrative center), and the Great Compound (probably a market place); there are no ball courts. The structures are distributed along a central roadway known as the Street of the Dead. After the destruction of Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan expanded and people were housed in apartment compounds which exhibit some social differentiation. Many of the inhabitants were craftsmen, and some 500 workshop sites have been identified. Four-fifths of those sites were devoted to obsidian working. Teotihuacán controlled the central highlands of Mexico, and was in contact with all the principal centers of civilization (Monte Albán, Tikal, etc.) as far as Belize. The influence of Teotihuacán during the Early Classic was considerable and most major centers have some Teotihuacán forms. Characteristic of Teotihuacán influence are Talud-Tablero architecture, images of Tlaloc, cylindrical tripod vases, Thin Orange Ware, murals, and stylized human face masks. There is very little massive stone sculpture except as architectural embellishments. The end of Teotihuacan came fairly suddenly. A decline in its influence at other sites was evident by c 600, but the city itself was not destroyed until 750. There is much evidence of burning from that time, indicating that the city may have been sacked --possibly by the Chichimecs. The city was never rebuilt, but a small population remained in the ruined city for more than a hundred years.
terrace: CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: A bench or step that extends along the side of a valley and represents a former level of the valley floor. Terraces are flat surfaces preserved in valleys that represent floodplains developed when the river flowed at a higher elevation than at present. Another type of terrace is cut into bedrock and may have a thin veneer of alluvium, or sedimentary deposits. In paired terraces, the terrace features on each side of a valley correspond. A marine terrace is a rock terrace formed where a sea cliff, with a wave-cut platform, is raised above sea level. Any terrace consists of two parts: 1) a tread, which is the flat surface of the former floodplain, and 2) a scarp, which is the steep slope that connects the tread to any surface standing lower in the valley. A simple definition is the previous location of the shore of a body of water or a valley floor on which a stream once flowed. Archaeological deposits associated with terraces are equal in age or younger than the terrace.
test excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The initial examination of an archaeological site with the purpose of locating deposits and developng an excavation strategy.
Thailand: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Archaeological evidence indicates almost continuous human occupation of Thailand for the last 20,000 years. Tai-speaking peoples migrated southward and westward from China around the 10th century AD. Important Hoabinhian sites are Sai Yok, Spirit Cave, Non Nok Tha, and Ban Chiang, which suggest the presence of rice cultivation, cattle domestication, and copper-bronze metallurgy from about 3500 BC, followed by iron metallurgy and wet rice cultivation about 1500 BC. In southern Thailand at Ban Kao and Kok Charoen, Neolithic cultures continued into the 2nd millennium BC. The Bronze and Iron Age remains are related to the Dong-Son culture of Vietnam (1st millennium BC).
Thiessen polygons: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Thiessen polygon method
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Method of describing settlement patterns based on territorial divisions centered on a single site or feature (locational analysis); the polygons are created by drawing straight lines between pairs of neighboring sites, then at the mid-point along each of these lines, a second series of lines are drawn at right angles to the first. Linking the second series of lines creates the Thiessen polygons. Where the exact boundaries between ancient territories are undetermined, an attempt to reconstruct them can be made if the distribution of focal points (central place), one to each territory, is known. The assumption is that any point will be dependent on the nearest central place. Thiessen polygons are useful for defining theoretical territories related to each center -- an area of production, a source of an important material, or a market center. These theoretical territories can be tested by comparison with actual archaeological data such as artifact distributions.
Thrace or Thracia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Ancient and modern region of the southeastern Balkans; in ancient times, the part north of Greek settlement extending to the Black Sea. In the 5th century BC, it included modern Bulgaria and Romania. Most Thracians became subject to Persia in c 516-510 BC. It was assimilated (356-342 BC) by Philip II of Macedon and later provided Philip's son, Alexander the Great, with troops during his conquests. In 197 BC, Rome assigned much of Thrace to the kingdom of Pergamum. In the 1st century BC, Rome became more involved in the affairs of the region and emperor Claudius I annexed the entire Thracian kingdom in 46 AD. Thrace was subsequently made into a Roman province. The emperor Trajan and his successor, Hadrian, founded cities in Thrace, notably Sardica (modern Sofia) and Hadrianopolis (modern Edirne). In about 300 AD, Diocletian reorganized the area between the Lower Danube and the Aegean into the diocese of Thrace. Archaeological sites are the homes of Democritus, the 5th-century philosopher, and of Protagoras, a counselor of Alexander the Great; and the Roman highway Via Egnatia.
Three-Age System: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: three-age sequence, Three Age System
CATEGORY: chronology
DEFINITION: The division of human prehistory into three successive stages -- Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age -- based on the main type of material used in tools of the period. The system was first formulated by Christian J. Thomsen in 1819 as a means of classifying the collections in the National Museum of Denmark. The scheme became progressively elaborated by dividing the Stone Age into Old and New, the Palaeolithic and Neolithic. A Middle Stone Age or Mesolithic was later added. The further subdivisions Early, Middle, and Late of the Palaeolithic (Lower, Middle, and Upper) were introduced, and a Copper Age was inserted between New Stone and Bronze. The Ages are only developmental stages and some areas skipped one or more of the stages. At first entirely hypothetical, these divisions were later confirmed by archaeological observations. It established the principle that by classifying artifacts, one could produce a chronological ordering.
Tikal: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Large and important site of the Maya people in the rain forest of Petén, Guatemala, dating to 800 BC. The earliest buildings were constructed in 800 BC when it was a simple farming village. It is the most thoroughly studied of the great lowland Maya sites and peaked c 600-800 AD in the Classic period (c 300-900 AD), when Tikal was one of the largest and politically most important Maya capitals. Studies of its architecture, tombs, art style, settlement pattern, subsistence and storage, and artifacts have accompanied an extensive mapping project. A population of between 45,000-75,000 occupied 120 square kilometers. Six statuesque limestone temple pyramids, giant paved plazas, shrines, palatial residences, ballcourts -- in all, 3,000 buildings, hundreds of monuments, stelae, altars are among the ruins. It is also the location of the oldest Maya monument known, 292 AD. Archaeologists have been able to work out the dynastic history of Tikal on the basis of stela inscriptions and have identified the tombs of individual listed rulers. Numerous elite burials containing exotic materials, such as jade, obsidian, and stingray spines occur within the Great Plaza and within some of the temple-pyramids. Commoners, by contrast, are usually buried under their houses. Archaeological data confirmed that there were close relations with Teotihuacán during the Early Classic period; Tikal was an important post in the great trading network that Teotihuacán had established in southern Mesoamerica.. Like other lowland Maya sites, Tikal was abandoned around 900 AD.
Tillya-Depe: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Iron Age site in southern Bactria, Afghanistan, dating to the first half of the 1st millennium BC. There was a central fortified architectural platform and a group of Kushan royal tombs" dug after abandonment. The graves were very rich with gold vessels and jewelry and were dated to the late 1st millennium BC. Afghanistan's archaeological discoveries are recounted by Viktor Sarianidi in "The Golden Hoard of Bactria: From the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern Afghanistan" (1985) an illustrated account of grave goods excavated from an early Kushan princedom cemetery."
Timor: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An island of the Malay Archipelago, eastern Indonesia, possibly a staging point for early migrations to Australia. Timor and neighboring Flores had possible Pleistocene industries. There is some evidence of early Pleistocene land-bridges reaching the island from Java. The earliest archaeological dated remains come from caves in east Timor, where flake industries date from c 11,000 BC and Neolithic cultures appear after 3000 BC.
Tlapacoya: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Site in central Mexico on ancient Lake Chalco with human remains dated to 21,000 BC. The site has produced important archaeological information from several different periods, and environmental data from the Pleistocene onwards. There are chipped stone tools with radiocarbon dates of c 22-20,000 BC. Sedentary life occurred between 6000-4500 BC during the pre-ceramic period, and a sequence of Pre-Classic pottery styles has given information on early village life in the Basin of Mexico. The small Pre-Classic village site has an early pyramid and Olmec cultural material.
Tohoku: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: District of northern Honshu Island, Japan, used in archaeological documents, comprising Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures.
Tokai: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: District of Japan, used in archaeological documents, comprising modern Tokyo Metropolitan District and Chiba, Ibaragi, Saitama, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, and Mie prefectures.
top-down strategy: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A strategy of archaeological survey that uses random sampling to select areas to survey and attempts to cover a large area, ignoring previous knowledge and intuition.
topographic map: CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: Map that can be used to relate archaeological sites to basic features of the natural landscape. Topographic maps are cartographic representation of the Earth's surface at a level of detail or scale between that of a plan (small area) and a chorographic (large regional) map. Topographic maps show as accurately as possible the location and shape of both natural and man-made features They depict topographic (landform) data in combination with representations of archaeological sites.
topography: CATEGORY: geography; related field
DEFINITION: Art or practice of graphic depiction on maps or charts of the natural and man-made features of a place or region, especially to show their relative positions and elevations in relief and contour. Another definition is the configuration of a surface including its relief and the position of its natural and man-made features. Detailing of site topography is very important in archaeological site description. A transit, theodolite, and/or level may be used in making a topographic map.
Tordos: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Turdas
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site on the Mures River in Transylvania, Rumania, with archaeological finds dating from the Middle Neolithic Age (3500-2600 BC). Its has given its name to the Transylvanian regional group of the Vinca culture and is often coupled with that of Vinca to describe a Middle Neolithic culture covering parts of Yugoslavia, Rumania, and Hungary. Tordos is the largest Vinca site in Rumania and has a collection of incised signs and a range of fired clay figurines.
total excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Complete excavation of an archaeological site, confined mainly to smaller sites, such as burial mounds or campsites.
total system approach: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Archaeological research based on the assumption that in order to reconstruct an ancient culture, all parts of it must be examined.
tradition: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A term describing the persistence in a given area over a period of time in individual attributes, artifact types, or technologies; a culture that exists for an extended period of time and usually over an extended area. An example is the chopping-tool tradition of South Asia. A tradition is also a series of archaeological phases or cultures that share cultural similarities. In American terminology, it is a sequence of cultures or pottery styles which develop out of each other and form a continuum in time. The term is used especially to designate specific New World cultures such as the Arctic Small Tool Tradition, Big Game (Hunting) Tradition, Mississippi(an) Tradition, Woodland Tradition, and Desert Tradition. The attributes, styles, traits, or technologies develop continuously, thus forming an easily accounted-for series of advancements. There are problems with the use of this term: where an industry is described as belonging to one culture with the tradition of another (e.g., Mousterian of Acheulian tradition for flint industries), it is unclear as to what is implied about the relationship of the two industries.
trait list: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A list of characteristics describing an archaeological culture.
transect: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: An arbitrary sample unit which is a linear corridor of uniform specified width; a linear. A straight line or narrow sections through an archaeological site or feature, along which a series of observations or measurements is made.
transformational process: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Any process, natural or human-caused, that transforms an abandoned prehistoric settlement into an archaeological site over time. This includes the conditions and events that affect archaeological data from the time of deposition to the time of recovery.
tree-ring dating: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: dendrochronology
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The use of annual growth rings in trees to date archaeological sites.
trend surface analysis: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A method used to make a generalized map from observed data and used to highlight the main features and important trends of a geographic distribution. Archaeological observations mapped are discontinuous and at isolated points and therefore must be used to give information over a wider area. This is done either by averaging the values at a number of points to produce a general value or by a form of linear regression analysis which finds the contours which best fit the observations plotted on the map. The map produced then shows a general trend of the distribution, along with localized fluctuations. The technique is most useful for displaying archaeological data in a simplified and generalized form, making it easier to examine and explain the broad regional trends and the local variations. It can be applied to several different artifact distributions at the regional level, and has also been used to describe the distribution of artifact types within a site.
trinomial: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: The Smithsonian system of archaeological site numbering. The trinomial (three number) consists of the state number (or alpha designation), the county alpha designation, and the site number.
Tshangula: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Umguzan
CATEGORY: site; culture
DEFINITION: Cave site in the Matopo Hills of southwestern Zimbabwe with several layers of archaeological deposits preserving microlithic artifacts and sherds attributed to Bambata ware. The sequence includes Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age assemblages and is also the name of a Middle Stone Age industry postdating 30,000 BP. This horizon contained backed microliths associated with diminutive implements and ostrich eggshell beads.
Tshikapa: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A mining area and village in Zaire on the Kasai River where Early Iron Age pottery vessels of Urewe type were found in an undated context and without further archaeological associations. The discovery has been used as evidence for an early spread of Early Iron Age industries along the southern fringes of the equatorial forest.
Tula: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Tollán
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The Toltec capital, located in the modern state of Hidalgo, Mexico, then identified as Tollán. Founded on an already existing settlement in c 960 AD, it grew to cover 11 sq. km. The site gained importance c 800 AD after Teotihuacán fell. There was a stepped pyramid on which there was a temple and buildings had colonnaded halls. At its height, there were some 1000 mounds and at least as many low rectangular house mounds, and five ball courts. The monumental civic architecture featured Talud-Tablero architecture. In sculpture, the most diagnostic figures are the Chac Mools, reclining human figures holding offering dishes, and the famous Atlantean statues that supported the roof of Pyramid B. The earliest pre-architectural phases at Tula are characterized by the presence of Coyotlatelco ware, but the dominant ceramic occurring after c1000 is Mazapan ware. Imported Plumbate Ware also occurs frequently. Although the Toltec are associated with the introduction of metallurgy into central Mexico, no metals have been found. Tula was violently destroyed, probably by a Chichimec group, in either 1156 or 1168 AD (depending on how one reads the Calendar date). Although its exact location is not certain, an archaeological site near the contemporary town of Tula in Hidalgo state has been the consistent choice of historians.
type fossil: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: fossil directeur
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A tool characteristic of a particular archaeological era" a dated concept borrowed from geology. A particular artifact form used to define a specific period or culture such as an Acheulian handax; a specific artifact which serves to represent the taxon of which it is a member. Such an artifact would have a wide distribution in space but a restricted one in time. Its value is for correlating cultural sequences over large areas as in cross-dating. In archaeology the time taken for a type to spread by diffusion must be allowed for and if possible calculated from outside evidence."
typology: CATEGORY: typology
DEFINITION: The study of classes with common characteristics; classification of artifacts; the systematic classification of artifacts or remains according to type, i.e. form and decoration. This is the first step in archaeological analysis and necessary in comparing assemblages and in determining time sequences. Groups of pottery, for example, may be assembled by those with long necks, those with handles, and those with a pedestal base. Within these may be sub-groups based on variations in handle shape or decoration. The relationships between similar types can sometimes be shown not merely to classify, but also to explain, their development -- which is called seriation. It may show increasing complexity or functional improvement, simplification and functional decline, or change based on fashion. Typology may be associated with chronology, in that it may be possible to place groups of the same kind of material in a sequence.
upward migration: CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The movement of previously deposited objects to the soil surface as a result of plowing, bulldozing, or other nonarchaeological processes.
Uvarov, Count Aleksei Sergeevich (1828-1884): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Russian archaeologist who organized the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society in 1864 and worked at Cheronese, the Merian graves, and Karacharovo.
Van-lang: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Van Lang
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A legendary kingdom of north Vietnam, literally the Land of the Tattooed Men, rule by the Hong Bang dynasty c 3rd millennium BC. It was succeeded by the historic kingdom of Au-Lac in 258 BC. Existing archaeological evidence does not support the Vietnamese ancient texts that credit Hung Vuong with establishing, in 2879 BC, the Hong Bang dynasty, which is said to have survived for 2,621 years. According to available data, the earliest Vietnamese kingdom originated between 1000-500 BC.
Vanuatu: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: New Hebrides
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A chain of 13 principal and many smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 500 miles (800 km) west of Fiji and 1,100 miles (1,800 km) east of Australia. Many of the northern islands have been inhabited by Melanesian peoples for at least 3,000 years; the earliest radiocarbon date for settlement on the southern islands is 420 BC on Tanna. It has an Austronesian-speaking population. Important archaeological phenomena include the Mangaasi pottery tradition and the burial site of Roy Mata.
varve: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: A sedimentary bed, layer, or sequence of layers deposited in a body of still water within a year's time, and usually during a season, by the melting of glaciers and is used in determining the age of geological formations and in archaeological dating, especially in northern Europe. These annual deposits are found in river and lake beds near glaciers, reflecting the fluctuation of the flow of water during periods of freezing and melting and especially useful in measuring recent Pleistocene geological events. Swedish pioneer Baron Gerard de Geer discovered in the late 19th century that these could be counted and correlated or linked over long distances, which gave him a timescale of 12,000 years and fixed the end of the Ice Age at about 10,000 years ago.
varve dating: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A technique for producing chronometric dates based on the annual formation of layers of sediment on lake and river beds in glacial regions. Seasonal fluctuations in particle size and speed of sedimentation take place. During the winter, ice melting is very slow, melt-water streams do not contain much water, and they flow slowly, carrying little material. During the summer, melting accelerates, melt-water streams flow faster and carry more material. The supply of sediment to the ice-marginal lake varies with the season. A varve chronology, similar to a tree-ring chronology may be set up. But as with tree rings (see dendrochronology) the varves will vary from year to year, depending on the rapidity of the thaw, quantity of summer rain, winter snow, etc., the variations showing some correlation with the sunspot cycle. Such varve chronologies have been built up for Scandinavia and are used to date the retreat of the Weichselian ice-sheet. Varve dating has a greater significance than just for local dating, since frequently there is enough organic material to allow radiocarbon dates to be calculated. There is therefore the possibility of using the calendrical varve chronology to calibrate radiocarbon dates. Its use for archaeological dating is rather limited in that sites have to be related to the geological changes (the ice-sheet moraines or changing Baltic sea-levels) before their dates can be determined. Swedish pioneer Baron Gerard de Geer discovered in the late 19th century that these could be counted and correlated or linked over long distances, which gave him a timescale of 12,000 years and fixed the end of the Ice Age at about 10,000 years ago.
Vietnam: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A distinct Vietnamese ethnolinguistic group began to emerge about 200 BC in the independent kingdom of Nam Viet, which was later annexed to China. In the 1st century AD the kingdom of Funan occupied much of the Mekong delta area, but it disappeared in the 6th century. Most Vietnamese archaeological sites are in the northern part of the country: Lower Palaeolithic tools, a lithic sequence from the end of the Pleistocene (c 10,000-4000 BC) with pottery, full Neolithic cultures appearing after 3000 BC and the Bronze Age, terminating in the classic Dong-Son culture (early second millennium BC- 200 AD). The Bronze Age-Iron Age in southern Vietnam is associated with the Sa-Huynh culture and Chamic (Austronesian) settlement.
weight method: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: mass method
CATEGORY: measure
DEFINITION: A method for quantifying archaeological remains by their mass (grams, kilograms).
Wessex: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The kingdom of the West Saxons founded by Cerdic in the upper Thames Valley c 494/495 AD and from another site, known only from archaeological evidence, situated on the upper Thames and was probably settled from the northeast. Wessex first spread in influence to the south and west and was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to become firmly established. Its nucleus approximated that of the modern counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, and southern Avon. At times its land extended north of the River Thames, and it eventually expanded to cover Devon and Cornwall. It reached its peak in the 9th century. Wessex under Alfred (871-899) became the nucleus of a unified England.
wet-site excavation: CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Technique of excavating waterlogged sites by pumping water through hoses to spray the dirt away and expose archaeological features and artifacts.
Wheeler, Sir Robert Eric Mortimer (1890-1976): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: English archaeologist who revolutionized excavation standards and invented the stratigraphic grid system technique. Adopting and developing further the methods of General Pitt-Rivers, Wheeler emphasized the vertical site record and its importance in reconstructing the history of a site. He founded Britain's Institute of Archaeology of London University and similar institutions in other countries, especially reorganizing Indian and Pakistani archaeology. He worked at Verulamium, Maiden Castle, Harappa, Arikamedu, St. Albans, Colchester, Stanwick, Taxila, Charsada, Mohenjo-Daro, and Brahmagiri and was the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India. His most important contribution was in popularizing archaeology, through his writings and especially through television programs.
wood: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: xylem
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: Hard, fibrous substance that is the principal strengthening and water-conducting tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and shrubs. On archaeological sites, wood may be preserved as a result of waterlogging or as charcoal.
Xia: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Hsia
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The first of the Chinese dynasties of the Sandai period in China, according to tradition dated c 2205-1766 BC. It is said to have been overthrown by the Shang (Yin). Some archaeologists regard Erlitou as a Xia site and archaeological surveys have been undertaken at related sites in western Henan and southern Shanxi.
Xiongnu: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Hsiung-nu
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Tribal confederation of mounted nomads who dominated the Mongolian steppes during much of the Han dynasty and formed c 5th century BC. They dominated the area for more than 500 years. Their raids on the northern Chinese spurred the building of the Great Wall during the Zhou (Chou) period. Few archaeological remains are definitely assigned to the Xiongnu. Kurgans with horse burials excavated in Noin Ula are thought to be 1st-century AD tombs of Xiongnu nobility. Aristocratic burials in Liaoning province and in Mongolia have yielded a wealth of gold and silver objects. In 51 BC the Xiongnu empire split into two bands: an eastern horde, which submitted to the Chinese, and a western horde, which was driven into Central Asia. China's wars against the Xiongnu led to the Chinese exploration and conquest of much of Central Asia.
Yadin, Yigael (1917-1984): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Israeli archaeologist noted for his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls and his excavations at Hazor and Masada. He wrote The Message of the Scrolls" (1957; new ed. 1962) "Hazor" 3 vol. (1958-62) "The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in the Light of Archaeological Discovery" 2 vol. (1963) and "Masada: Herod's Fortress and the Zealots' Last Stand" (1966)."
Yamato: CATEGORY: culture; site
DEFINITION: The name of a former province in Nara Prefecture, Japan, an emergent state of the Kofun period (2nd-5th centuries AD). When the Tang administrative system of China was adopted in the late 7th century AD, Yamato was made into the Ritsuryo state. The old Yamato Province is rich in archaeological remains of the Yayoi, Kofun, and early historical periods. The period is commonly called the Tumulus, or Tomb, period from the presence of large burial mounds (kofun), its most common archaeological feature. It is from the very construction of the tombs themselves, from an examination of the grave goods, as well as from increasingly reliable written sources both domestic and foreign that a picture of the Yamato kingdom has emerged.
Yassi Ada: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A graveyard of ancient ships off the Turkish coast near Bodrum, the most important being a Byzantine wreck of the 6th century. The 30-meter vessel was well-preserved and traces of the galley-end and of the cargo holds were found. Amphorae have illustrated trading of later Roman wares and olive oil between North Africa and Anatolia in the Justinian period. Peter Throckmorton, who discovered the site in 1958, developed the mapping of wrecks photogrammetrically with stereophotographs and using a two-man submarine, the Asherah launched in 1964. The Asherah" was the first submarine ever built for archaeological investigation."
Zagros: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Mountain range of southwest Iran from the Sirvan River (Diyala) to Shiraz, where a number of archaeological sites are located: Jarmo, Ali Kosh, Tepe Ganj Dareh, Tepe Guran, Tepe Sarab, and Zawi Chemi Shangi-Dar.
Zhoukoudian: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Choukoutien, Chou-k'ou-tien
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Palaeolithic site in Hebei province, China, with numerous human fossils, including 'Peking man', found in cave deposits of c 400,000-700,000 years ago. Over 40 individuals are represented; this has become one of the two fossil populations on which Homo erectus is based. In 1941, when the Japanese were about to attack Beijing, the fossils were packed for transport to the U.S., but disappeared; only casts have survived. New investigations have found more skulls and parts, and a pollen sequence is known. Primitive flake tools have been found, along with traces of fire. Remains of Homo sapiens sapiens are the first human burials in the East Asian archaeological record.
zooarchaeology: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: archaeozoology
CATEGORY: branch
DEFINITION: The study of animal remains, especially bones, from archaeological contexts, including the identification and analysis of faunal species as an aid to reconstructing human diets, determining the impact of animals on past economies, and in understanding the environment at the time of deposition. Animal remains are collected, cleaned, sorted, identified, and measured for their study and interpretation. The study of bones involves calculations of minimum numbers of individuals belonging to each species found; their size, age, sex, stature, dentition, and whether the bones have any marks from implements implying butchering and eating. Archaeologists attempt to answer questions such as how many species of domesticated animals there were, how far wild animals were exploited, how many very young animals there were to determine kill patterns and climate changes, in what way bones were butchered, what the sex ratios there were in determining breeding strategies, and if there were any animals of unusual size. By analyzing remains from different parts of a site it may be possible to understand some of the internal organization of the settlement, while a comparison between sites within a region may show areas of specialization.

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