Bevel

Stone Line

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 sto...

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Stone Line

Encanto

A series of sites on the central coastline of Peru, including Chilca, which constitute a cultural phase which began to exploit maritime resources and cultivation, c 3750-2500 BC. Stone artifacts include milling stones, small percussion-flaked projectile points, and simple scrapers as well as bone...

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Encanto

Libation

A Greek or Roman offering of wine to the gods; an act of pouring liquid as a sacrifice to a deity. It was poured from a phiale or patera, which was filled by an oinochoe.

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Libation

Parrot Beak Jug

Type of glazed ceramic jug found in Britain and northern Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries AD, distinctive in having a rather stylized polychrome image of a large-beaked bird on the side.

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Parrot Beak Jug

Tint

A variation of a color produced by adding white to it, characterized by low saturation

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Tint

Cephalic Index

A measurement technique used to define the relationship between the length and breadth of a human skull. The breadth of the skull is expressed as a percentage of the length and the ratio is figured as the maximum breadth to the maximum length, measured from a point just above the eyebrow ridges, ...

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Cephalic Index

X-Ray Milliprobe

A specialized type of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry which satisfies the particular requirements of certain artifacts. The principle is the same as for X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, but an instrument directs a highly focused X-ray beam at a desired point(s) on the sample surface. Secondary X-...

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X-Ray Milliprobe

Nkudzi

Later Iron age cemetery site on the southwestern shore of Lake Malawi (formerly Lake Nyasa), probably dating to the late 18th-early 19th centuries AD. The abundant grave goods may reflect the material culture in the area at a time of increasing slave-raiding and coastal trade.

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Nkudzi

Archaeometric

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.

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Archaeometric

Middle Stone Age

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...

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Middle Stone Age

Duo-Notch

Point with double set of notches

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Duo-Notch

Archaeography

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 writi...

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Archaeography

Phase Ii Testing

A thorough investigation of an historic or archaeological site to make recommendations regarding its eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Phase Ii Testing

Materialist Theory

Any theory that posits that the way humans organize labor and technology to get resources out of the material world is the primary force shaping culture.

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Materialist Theory

Paleobotany

The study of ancient plant life and the remains of ancient or extinct plants. This includes material which has no direct connection with man and his activities, and is thus less specific to archaeology than palaeoethnobotany or archaeobotany. Much of man's material equipment came, however, from v...

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Paleobotany

Ascribed Status

An individual's social standing or leadership which was inherited or assigned from his or her parents or other relatives, by sex, or some other fixed criterion.

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Ascribed Status

Metal Detector

A geophysical instrument used in electromagnetic surveying to locate metal on the surface, hidden under vegetation, or shallowly buried. Some metal detectors can be programmed to detect only artifacts of a certain alloy.

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Metal Detector

Frilling

A crust decoration found on most tazzae.

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Frilling

Wristguard

A rectangular plate of bone or stone, perforated on the ends and strapped to the forearm of an archer to prevent injury when the bowstring recoils. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish a wristguard from a whetstone. They occur commonly in Beaker contexts in Europe.

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Wristguard

Khami

A microlithic Later Stone Age industry of the Matobo Hills of southwest Zimbabwe, dating back 8000 years. It is also the name of the capital of the Torwa state, built in the 15th century AD after the decline of Great Zimbabwe, and occupied until the mid-17th century when the capital was moved. It...

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Khami

Pampa Grande

Middle Horizon, Moche V site in Lambayeque Valley, northern Peru, dated c 1000 BC and occupied for relatively short time. It was a large urban center and probably the relocated capital, after the abandonment of Huacas del Sol and Luna, of the Moche polity in its closing phases. Highly differentia...

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Pampa Grande

Macroband

An anthropological term used to describe a group of several, usually related families who set up seasonal hunter-gatherer camps, used as a model of prehistoric societies. There can be more than one camp in the region exploited by each macroband, which moves from one area to another in order to ex...

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Macroband

Patch Grove Ware

Kind of pottery with a rough grey core and an orange or brown surface, found mainly in northwest Kent and Surrey, usually in the form of wide-mouthed storage jars and with notched decoration on the shoulder. It is in a native British tradition that lasted into the 2nd century AD.

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery

Patch Grove Ware

Parting Vessel

A container, usually square or rectangular, used in metal processing for separating metals one from another, usually silver from gold.

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Parting Vessel

Sem Priest

In Egypt, a priest associated with funerary ritual, especially the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. This person characteristically wore a leopard-skin garment.

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