Core

Lyles Hill

An enclosed Neolithic settlement and cairn in Antrim, Ireland, which has, with Grimston, given its name to a pottery ware widespread in Britain - the Grimston-Lyles Hill style. The pottery was made during the British Middle Neolithic, c 4th millennium BC.

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Lyles Hill

Cruse

A small earthenware container used for liquids.

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Cruse

Incensario

Spanish term for an incense burner made of pottery or stone, used in Mesoamerican religious and political ceremonies.

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Incensario

Etruria

The area to the north of Rome, bounded by the Tiber and Arno Rivers and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Etruscans inhabited the area and colonized Aleria, the Po Valley, and parts of Campania. The area is rich in gold, iron, and bronze. The dead were buried in underground tombs or tumuli and were accompa...

archaeologsEnglishRegions

Etruria

Grange

A type of medieval manor house controlling the estates belonging to a monastery. Granges were first created in the 12th century in several countries of western Europe. The farms were run by monks with the assistance of lay servants and their purpose was to produce food for the church as well as f...

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Grange

Mechta-El-Arbi

Important Upper Capsian site in Algeria with remains of humans of the same name, considered a North African branch of Cro-Magnon man.

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Mechta-El-Arbi

Balk

A strip (usu. 10-25 centimeters) of unexcavated earth left in place between excavated units, pits, or trenches for the purpose of revealing the stratigraphy of an excavation for as long as possible. The balk provides a constant reference to the original pre-excavation level of the site, and also ...

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Balk

Mildenhall

A town in Suffolk, England, famous for the treasure of silver comprising the household silver of a wealthy Roman family near the remains of a 4th-century Roman building. The silver was richly decorated with figured reliefs and the 34 pieces include a large dish depicting the head of Oceanus, ring...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Cities, Place Names

Mildenhall

Lehringen

A Middle Palaeolithic site near Bremen in north Germany (Lower Saxony), where organic muds revealed a pollen diagram of the last Interglacial. In these muds, a yew wood spear broken into several pieces was found. It passed between the ribs of the skeleton of an Elephant of Elephas antiquus type. ...

archaeologsEnglishPlace Names

Lehringen

Paring Chisel

A type of tool made of stone or, more usually, metal with a shaped narrow blade that can be used carefully to remove thin strips or shavings of wood when fashioning a joint or shaping a block.

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Paring Chisel

Damascening

The art of incrusting one metal on another, in the form of wire, which by undercutting and hammering is completely attached to the metal it ornaments. The process of etching slight ornaments on polished steel wares is also called damascening. Although related to pattern-welding, this technique us...

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Damascening

Firepit

A pit, usually basin-shaped, in which localized burning occurred and construction was expedient and minimal.

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Firepit

Mezhirich

Upper Palaeolithic site at the Rosava and Ros' Rivers in the Ukraine with occupation from c 17,855-12,900 bp. Mammoth-bone houses with associated pits, hearths, and debris concentrations have been found. There are stone and non-stone artifacts and art objects.

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Mezhirich

Outline

A key and obvious diagnostic feature is the outline or silhouette of the implement. The outline is the two dimensional image perceived when viewing the outer perimeter of an artifact with a blade face towards the viewer. Some projectile point types have distinctive outlines and can be accurately ...

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Outline

Milecastle

A fortlet (small fort) set at intervals of one Roman mile along a major well-defended frontier - such as Hadrian's Wall. They measured 60-70 x 50-60 ft. A roadway passed through the center of the milecastle and through the wall itself, with gateways at both entrances. There were two barrack build...

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Milecastle

Cryptoportico

In Roman architecture, an underground corridor, usually in the substructure of a large building complex.

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Cryptoportico

Coil Fracture

A smooth-edged circumferential breakage characteristic of coiled vessels in which the coils were poorly bonded, resulting in planes of weakness

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Coil Fracture

Sandwich Glass

Any of various forms of glassware manufactured at Sandwich, Mass., from 1825 to c1890.

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Sandwich Glass

Smelting

The separation of metal from ore, usually by heating in a hearth or furnace. It is a major process in metalworking, producing the usable metal for the making of artifacts. After smelting, copper can be cast and iron can be forged. The main chemical reaction in smelting most of the ores used in an...

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Smelting

Digging Stick

A straight, often pointed, wooden tool for loosening or digging up the ground. It was used in food-gathering economies to turn up roots or burrowing animals, and in Neolithic communities for cultivation until displaced by the hoe and later (in the Old World) by the plow. It could be made more eff...

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Digging Stick

Dumpy Level

A surveyor's level composed of a short telescope fixed rigidly to a horizontally rotating table and a spirit level.

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Dumpy Level

Shingle

A rectangular tile of asphalt composite, wood, metal, or slate used on walls or roofs

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Shingle

Eleusis

Important Greek town just west of Athens, famous for the Eleusinian mysteries celebrated in honor of Demeter and Persephone. Occupation is attested from the early Bronze Age and the sanctuary was in use from at least Mycenaean times. The site's most famous monument, the telesterion (hall with roc...

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Eleusis

Biological Environment

Those elements of the habitat consisting of living organisms; the living component of the total environment.

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Biological Environment

Skillet

A frying pan; also, a small metal cooking pot with a long handle, typically with legs

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