Anza

A large settlement of the First Neolithic and Early Vinca periods of Macedonia near the Bregnalnica River. Excavations have revealed a four-phase occupation c 5300-4200 BC. There was cultivation of emmer and wheat as well as some herding. The architecture was mud brick walls to wattle-and-daub ti...

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Anza

Laurel-Leaf Point

A distinctive long, thin leaf-shaped Solutrean flake tool made with delicate workmanship. The largest was found from Volgu, France. It was made during the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe.

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Laurel-Leaf Point

Beehive Quern

Type of rotary quern common in Roman times which had an extremely thick dome-shaped upper stone with a slightly flared base; some authorities believe such querns have a phallic symbolism

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Beehive Quern

Grand Pressigny

A complex of flint quarries in Indre-et-Loire, France, whose products were widely traded throughout western Europe in the Late Neolithic and Copper Age. The distinctive caramel-colored flint was exported in the form of blocks and unfinished blanks. The exploitation of Grand Pressigny flint took p...

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Grand Pressigny

Black-And-Red Ware

Any Indian pottery with black rims and interior and red on the outside, due to firing in the inverted position, which was made beginning in the Iron Age. Characteristic forms include shallow dishes and deeper bowls. It first appeared on late sites of the Indus civilization and was a standard feat...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery

Black-And-Red Ware

Flora

Plants or vegetation.

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Flora

Protohistory

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 defi...

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Protohistory

Tweezers

A pair of small pincers, usually of a pliable material such as metal or bone, for taking up or pulling small objects or plucking out hairs.

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Tweezers

Chilca

A site in the coastal valley south of modern Lima, Peru, where excavations have revealed settlements dating to the Pre-Ceramic period c 4200 BC. The Chilca Monument was originally a summer camp and later, due to an increasingly warm climate, became favorable for a subsistence pattern called encan...

archaeologsEnglishPlace Names

Chilca

Atwater, Caleb

An American archaeological pioneer with his work on the mounds of the Midwest.

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Atwater, Caleb

Jefferson, Thomas

The third president of the United States and considered by many to be the father of American archaeology because of his meticulous excavation of a Virginia burial mound. Jefferson was the first person, in North America or anywhere, to undertake (1784) excavations of a prehistoric site as a means ...

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Jefferson, Thomas

Coprolite

Fossilized or desiccated human or animal feces. The study of these remains can provide information about the human or animal activity in that particular locale, such as diet and disease; the study of these remains is called coprology. Coprolites only survive in exceptional circumstances - arid, f...

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Coprolite

Sehonghong

In eastern Lesotho, a large rock shelter with a sequence of Stone Age occupation from c 70,000 BP. There is Middle Stone Age Howiesons Poort material (c 20,000 BP) and Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer remains.

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Sehonghong

Family

The taxonomic level between Order and Genus.

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Family

Bichrome Ware

Pottery having a two-color design or decoration.

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery

Bichrome Ware

Si Satchanalai

Industrial center of the Sukhothai state in northern Thailand with over 600 kilns for pottery and stoneware. The Chalieng brown-glazed wares, Sukhothai black-on-cream wares, and green-glazed Celadon wares are the best known. They are collectively called Sawankhalok and dated to the 14th-16th cent...

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Si Satchanalai

Surface Enrichment

In metal alloy coinage, an occurrence where the more 'noble' metal has a higher observed concentration at the surface of the coin than at the center. A silver-copper alloy has a higher concentration of silver and a gold-silver alloy has a higher concentration of gold. This phenomenon is important...

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Surface Enrichment

Leather-Hard

A stage in the manufacture of ceramic artifacts between forming and firing when the clay is sufficiently dry to lose plasticity but still can be polished to compact its surface.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Leather-Hard

Earth Lodge

In American Midwest and East cultures, any wood structure with an earthen covering used for shelter and ceremonies. They have hard-packed floors and/or postholes which are the remains of wall and roof supports.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Earth Lodge

Celtic Field

A term used for any small plot with low earthen banks formed around them, which were field systems of pre-Roman times in Britain and northwest Europe. These date to the Early Bronze Age (1800 BC), so it is a misnomer to attach 'Celtic' to them. Traces of these systems may still be visible where l...

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Celtic Field

Osan-Ri

Early Neolithic site in Kangwondo Province, Korea, with 7th millennium BC dates for Chulmun pottery.

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Osan-Ri

Mount Carmel

A group of Palaeolithic caves in Israel, on biblical Mount Carmel, which have between them yielded a long stratigraphy. The most important of these sites are el Wad, es Skhul, Tabun, and Nahal Oren. The sequence begins with coarse flake tools of Tayacian type, followed by Acheulian handax industr...

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Mount Carmel

Bellows

An object used to create a blast of air.

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Bellows

Cruciform Brooch

A bow-brooch with a small headplate and long footplate. From the headplate protrude three knobs; the footplate is normally shaped into an animal head with eyes and nostrils. Found in Jutland and Holstein from the late 4th century. During the 5th and 6th centuries AD cruciform brooches spread acro...

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Cruciform Brooch

Odeon

A Greek or Roman concert hall with tiered seating, built on a circular plan, and covered with a roof. It was probably used for concerts and speeches. The earliest is that constructed by Pericles at Eleusis (Athens) in 435 BC. Roman examples exist at Pompeii, Lyons, and Pula. An important example ...

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Odeon