Metallographic Microscopy

Cycladic

Concerning the Bronze Age of the Cyclades, Aegean Islands, equivalent to Helladic on the Greek mainland and Minoan in Crete. It is usually divided into three major divisions: Early (c 3000-2000 BC), Middle (c 2000-1550 BC), and Late (c 1550-1050 BC). In the earlier Bronze Age, Cycladic culture se...

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Cycladic

Abrader

A stone tool with abrasive qualities, such as pumice or sandstone, used in grinding, smoothing, sharpening, or shaping tools or other objects.

archaeologsEnglishTools

Abrader

Impasto

A type of early pottery of Etruria, made from unrefined clay and fired to a dark brown or black, especially during the Villanovan period. Some were biconical urns and hut models and were used for cremations. Impasto is also a paint that is applied to a canvas or panel in quantities that make it s...

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Impasto

F-U-N Dating

A collective term for the techniques of fluorine, uranium, and nitrogen dating. It is a relative dating technique which compares concentrations of fluorine, uranium, or nitrogen in various samples from the same matrix to determine contemporaneity.

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F-U-N Dating

Bladelet

A shorter narrower blade

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Bladelet

Behaviorist Theory

Any theory that suggests that the archaeological record is really a snapshot of ancient behavior.

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Behaviorist Theory

Ba And Shu

Ancient kingdoms ruling the area of modern Szechwan. Pa came into being in the 11th century BC and established relations with Shu in the 5th century BC. Shortly before 316 BC, the state was conquered by the Ch'in and incorporated into the Ch'in empire. In the middle of the 3rd century BC, the Pa ...

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Ba And Shu

Scar

In stone tools, this is the negative impression left after the removal of a flake.

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Scar

Find

An act or instance of discovering archaeological remains, the remains discovered, or the location where this discovery occurs.

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Find

Stratigraphic Section

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.

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Stratigraphic Section

Dieng

A complex of Hindu temples of the 8th-9th centuries AD, built around the volcanic hot springs of north-central Java.

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Dieng

Horn

One of a pair of bony processes that grow from the head of many hoofed mammals. They are usually permanent hollow sheaths of keratin present in both sexes of cattle and their relatives. Antlers are also horns.

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Horn

Iceland

An island country founded during the Viking age of exploration (late 9th century) and one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. The country was rich in fertile land and natural resources and independent farmers, mainly coming from Norway, flourished. There was much trade with the Viki...

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Iceland

Vulci

City of Etruria in Italy with ruins of Etruscan temple, Roman houses, Greek pottery, and a production center for bronzes. There are extensive cemeteries and a large network of streets and walls. Vulci grew out of a number of Villanovan villages and flourished chiefly in the 6th-4th century BC, la...

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Vulci

Snaketown

Large, important Hohokam site in the lower Gila River valley of Arizona with 1400 years of continuous occupation beginning c 300 BC. It is the best documented of all Hohokam villages, with 60 mounds (some rubbish heaps, others platforms) and a ball court, as well as fields, irrigation canals, and...

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Snaketown

Diffusion

The process whereby cultural traits, idea, or objects are spread or transmitted from one culture or society to another. It may be carried by folk movement, war, or trade, or imitation. Diffusion has played a major part in human development by spreading ideas and techniques more rapidly than they ...

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Diffusion

Direct Dating

The use of a dating technique directly on the object being discussed, such as the charcoal from a fireplace or a piece of obsidian.

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Direct Dating

Senftenberg

Late Bronze Age fortified site of the Lusatian culture in east Germany.

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Senftenberg

Hispaniola

The second largest island of the West Indies of the Greater Antilles, which since the 17th century has been divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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Hispaniola

Limit

The proportion of successful trials in a very large sample.

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Limit

Kommos

Minoan settlement on the southern coast of Crete, possibly the harbor town for the palace of Phaistos. In the 10th century BC, a temple was built on the ruins of the Minoan town.

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Kommos

Akhmim

A site on the east bank of the Nile opposite modern Sohag, that was the capital of the ninth nome of Upper Egypt during the Pharaonic period, c. 3100-332 BC. The earliest surviving remains are Old and Middle Kingdom rock-cut tombs. The city originally included a number of temples dedicated to Min...

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Akhmim

Timber Lacing

A technique for strengthening a stone or earthen rampart by means of a timber framework. Timber lacing was used in the second city at Troy, and for various Minoan and Mycenaean buildings. In Europe, it was used for defense works from the 10th century BC and also at many of the Iron Age hillfort s...

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Timber Lacing

Northumbria

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 Ri...

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Northumbria

Hurri

A people who appeared in northern Mesopotamia and Syria at the end of the 3rd millennium BC and by c 1600 BC had established a number of kingdoms in the area. They may have come from the Caucasus or Armenia and some evidence suggests a connection with the Kura-Araxes culture. They had a pantheon,...

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