Corinthian Order

Mikulcice

A site situated on the Morava River in the Czech Republic, a settlement of Great Moravia and the earliest Slavic state polity. It is a complex site with stratified deposits going back to the late 6th century, when it was one of the earliest Slavic fortified centers. The stronghold consisted of a ...

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Mikulcice

Late Horizon

A division of time in central Andean chronology, 1450-1533 AD, which corresponds to the Inca Empire's expansion from Cuzco. It is the most recent and briefest period of a chronological construction of Peruvian archaeology. The early date marks the point at which territorial expansion was virtuall...

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Late Horizon

Pintadera

A small object, usually of terra-cotta, consisting of a decorative stamp with a knob at the back for holding. The stamping surface is flat, concave, or convex. It has been suggested that they served to apply pigments to the human skin in repeat patterns as an alternative to tattooing. They are fo...

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Pintadera

Thaton

An early Talaing (Mon) capital in Lower Burma and subject to Indian influence from the time of Ashoka. It seems to have been the principal of a number of colonies of Indians from Orissa.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Thaton

Hamangia

A Late Neolithic culture of the Black Sea near the mouth of the Danube (Romania and Bulgaria) which was contemporaneous with the early periods of the Boian and Maritsa cultures. The culture was rather short-lived, c 4000-3700 BC and was succeeded by the Gumelnita culture. It is regarded by some a...

archaeologsEnglishCultures

Hamangia

Rod

Term applied to a type of Mesolithic microlith found especially in northwestern Europe. Rods are rounded forms of microliths retouched along the edges.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Rod

Narmer

One of the first pharaohs of Egypt, perhaps to be equated with Menes who founded the 1st Dynasty c 3200 BC and mythical founder of Memphis (and united Egypt). He ruled in Upper Egypt in the late Pre-Dynastic Period and is best known from the 'Main Deposit' of ritual objects at Hierakonpolis. The ...

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Narmer

Reduced Ware

A pottery fabric fired in a "reducing" atmosphere or one in which oxygen is denied, so that iron in the fabric tends to form magnetite rather than hematite.

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery

Reduced Ware

Modeling

A ceramic vessel construction technique where a mass of clay is handworked into a rough approximation of the vessel through punching, pinching, and/or drawing.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Modeling

Platy

Pertaining to platelike particles with nearly horizontal grain surfaces.

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Platy

Kodiak Tradition

A culture centered on Kodiak Island and adjacent mainland of southeast Alaska from 5000 BP. Polished slate was used for artifacts and there was sea mammal, fish, and caribou hunting. It was later influenced by the Thule culture.

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Kodiak Tradition

Distal

Located away from the point of origin or attachment or a central point. In anatomy, the part of a long bone (leg or arm) which is furthest from the body; the opposite end is the proximal.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Distal

Were-Jaguar

A creature with human infant and jaguar features which was important in Olmec art. It has a babylike expression, fangs, snarling mouth, and other feline facial features. The number and unity of the objects in this style first suggested to scholars that they were dealing with a new and previously ...

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Were-Jaguar

Gravel

Any stone that is greater than 2 mm in diameter. Gravel may be classified as: granule, pebble, cobble, and boulder gravel. The term also refers to a sedimentary deposit consisting mainly of gravel-sized clasts.

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Gravel

Palaikastro

Minoan settlement site on the island of Crete, a Neopalatial town with no palace yet discovered. Palaikastro in eastern Crete was an important town with blocks of houses marked by colored stone foundations, narrow streets with drains, and pottery of exceptional quality.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Palaikastro

Chiriquí

An area of Panama known for its fine gold objects and elegant pottery, with dates from 1100 AD to the Spanish conquest though it may have begun centuries earlier in the highlands. The pottery is often decorated with negative painting or modeled animals. Some large stone sculptures from Penonomé, ...

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Chiriquí

Jarlshof

A settlement site at the southern tip of the Shetland Island, Scotland, with a settlement from the early 2nd millennium BC. This early occupation was a Late Neolithic village comparable to Skara Brae and it was followed after an interval by oval houses of the Late Bronze Age, a round house and wh...

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Jarlshof

Palatine

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...

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Palatine

Damascus

A rich oasis city at the inland end of a pass in Syria and the modern capital of Syria. Damascus was occupied by the 3rd millennium BC, but the settlements of the prehistoric, biblical and Roman periods underlie the modern and medieval city and are therefore not readily available for excavation. ...

archaeologsEnglishPlace Names, Ancient Cities

Damascus

Zawi Chemi Shanidar

Village site in northern Iraq near Shanidar Cave with a terminal epi-Palaeolithic under Iron Age levels. Storage pits and a circular stone structure are dated to the 9th millennium BC. Large numbers of sheep bones are claimed to show signs of domestication at that time. Sickles, grinding stones, ...

archaeologsEnglishPlace Names

Zawi Chemi Shanidar

Krzemionki

Middle and Late Neolithic flint mine of the Holy Cross Mountains of central Poland. It was used by the Funnel Beaker and Globular Amphora cultures.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Krzemionki

Site Locality

A large geographic area, such as a gorge or valley, in which many separate sites are clustered.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Site Locality

Padlock

A detachable lock hanging by a pivoted hook on the object fastened.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Padlock

Manuport

Any artifact or natural object that is transported, but not necessarily modified, and deposited by humans. Examples would include seashells found inland or water-rolled pebbles away from any river.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Manuport

Core

A black or gray zone in the interior cross-section of a vessel wall, usually associated with incomplete removal of carbonaceous matter from the clay during relatively low-temperature firing; not to be confused with black coring at high temperatures, which results from trapped gases and may lead t...

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