Higgs, Eric Sidney

A British archaeologist who pioneered the technique of site catchment analysis, started the study of palaeoeconomy, and did innovative work on the origins of agriculture.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Higgs, Eric Sidney

Cortical Spall

A flake struck from the surface of a pebble or nodule which retains the natural cortex on one face. A cortical spall tool is generally a relatively large ovate cortical spall exhibiting retouch or use-wear on one or more edges.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Cortical Spall

Epigraphy

The study of ancient inscriptions and letter forms on buildings, statuary, tablets, and other durable materials and objects (such as wood, bone, pottery, stone). An expert in such studies is an epigrapher or epigraphist. Such texts are often the only surviving records of extinct cultures and chro...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Epigraphy

Fork

An implement with two or more prongs used for lifting food to the mouth or holding it when cutting

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Fork

Charavines

A lake dwelling in Isère, France, which is underwater but well-preserved. There were timber houses and dendrochronology dates the first village to 2740 BC. There are finely flaked flint daggers with coiled willow handles.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Charavines

Sealand

An area of marshes and lagoons of southern Babylonia (Persian Gulf). In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, the dynasty of the Sealand controlled much of southern Mesopotamia, but little is known about its rule. Only one of its kings being documented in contemporary texts. Earlier documents refe...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Sealand

Remojadas

A Classic Period center with distinctive pottery, dating to the Late Formative and lasting until the Early Postclassic, southeast of El Tajin near Veracruz, Mexico. Best known are the mold-made 'smiling face' figurines and small wheeled animals. The figurines were turned out in incredible quantit...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Remojadas

Quetzalcóatl

The Náhuatl name for the principal Aztec god of Late Postclassic central America, usually depicted as a feathered serpent. He was the god of self-sacrifice, patron of the arts and crafts, and inventor of agriculture and the calendar. In another form he was also the wind god and god of the morning...

archaeologsEnglishGod Names

Quetzalcóatl

Clench Nail

A nail adapted so that the end of the nail can be turned over and driven back into the substance through which it has passed.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Clench Nail

Encaustic

An ancient method of painting, recorded by Pliny, of fixing pigments with heated wax. It was probably first practiced in Egypt about 3000 BC and is thought to have reached its peak in Classical Greece, although no examples from that period survive. Pigments, mixed with melted beeswax, were brushe...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Encaustic

Diachronic Change

Gradual change over a period of time.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Diachronic Change

Pie Chart

A graph that shows relative abundances by the area of wedges in a circle.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Pie Chart

Excavation Unit

A basic area of horizontal control in an excavation; usually a test pit, trench, or a standard-sized square (grid).

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Excavation Unit

Secondary Cremation

A burial practice in which the remains of a deceased are removed from the initial burial and placed in a grave or ossuary elsewhere.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Secondary Cremation

Northwest Coast Tradition

A series of prehistoric groups of the northern California coast, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska, with origins in the Fraser River delta and clearly established by 1000 BC. Their subsistence was based on hunting and gathering of riverine and marine food sources (moll...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Northwest Coast Tradition

Population, Cultural

A specific society, e.g. the Shoshone or Arikara.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Population, Cultural

Isin

An ancient Mesopotamian city, probably the origin of a large mound near Ad-Diwaniyah, in southern Iraq. An independent dynasty was established at Isin about 2017 BC by Ishbi-Erra, who founded a line of Amorite rulers of whom the first five claimed authority over the city of Ur to the south. The f...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Cities

Isin

Cook, Captain James

English navigator who made three voyages of exploration in the Pacific from 1769-1779, making many discoveries in Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australia. Though Cook was not the first European to discover most of the islands he visited, his accounts of the native peoples at the crucial point of firs...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Cook, Captain James

Snare

Loops of material (vine, fiber, leather, etc) used for catching animals

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Snare

Los Millares

Important Chalcolithic settlement and cemetery in Almeria, southeast Spain, of c 2400 BC and located on a spur between the River Andarax and a stream. Within the settlement are circular houses, outside there are forts, megalithic walls, and a cemetery with 80+ passage graves (circular tholos type...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Los Millares

Kiln Firing

A method of firing ceramics in which the ceramics are exposed to the heat from a fire within an oven-like structure called a kiln rather than to a direct flame.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Kiln Firing

Petra

A city in Jordan which was the capital of the Edomite and Nabataean kingdoms on main route between Dead Sea and Red Sea, important (especially for trade) during the Hellenistic period. Set deep in the mountains with main access through a cleft in the rock called the Siq, Petra is best known for i...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Petra

Pedestal

The base of a structure, especially one supporting a statue or monumental column. It has three parts: the base or foot next to the ground, the dado or die forming the center, and the cornice or surbase moldings at the top. A second architectural definition is the support or foot of a late classic...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Pedestal

Writing

Any system for symbolizing the symbols of a language. Writing was developed independently several times in different places and both the writing materials and the types of script show great variation. The earliest true writing developed in southern Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC Uruk cultur...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Writing

Maat

The ancient Egyptian goddess of truth and order, whose symbol was the ostrich feather. She represented order, balance, correct attitudes and thinking, morality and justice. It was the feather of Maat against which the heart of the deceased was weighed. The power of Maat was said to regulate the s...

archaeologsEnglishMythology, Goddess Names

Maat