Battle-Ax Culture

A number of Late Neolithic cultural groups in Europe that appeared between 2800-2300 BC. So-named for their characteristic shaft-hole polished stone battle-ax, the people were also known for their use of horses. Their place of origin is not certain, but it was most likely east rather than west of...

archaeologsEnglishCultures

Battle-Ax Culture

Prong

The point or tine of a fork or forklike tool.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Prong

Caster

A small swiveled wheel (often one of a set) fixed to a leg (or the underside) of a piece of furniture

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Caster

Solomon Islands

Island nation in the center of Melanesia, southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Solomon Islands were initially settled by 2000 BC, probably by people of the Austronesian language group. The first European to reach the islands was the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1568; the islands were...

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Solomon Islands

Paleoclimatology

The scientific study of the extended climatic conditions of past geologic ages. The study of past climates, using information such as vegetation and sedimentary records, geomorphology, and animal distribution. Paleoclimatologists study the changing relationship between the Earth and the Sun and t...

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Paleoclimatology

Axial Skeleton

The bones of the trunk and head.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Axial Skeleton

Ball

A round object used in games.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Ball

Fort

A fortified place or position prepared for defensive or protective purposes and usually surrounded by a ditch, rampart, and parapet. Forts were first built on hilltops, from late Neolithic to Roman times. Even farmhouses had earthworks of ditch, rampart, and wooden stockade built against raiding ...

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Fort

Basin Of Deposition

The area which defines the pattern of deposition of layers, e.g. the shape of a cave, room, or pit.

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Basin Of Deposition

Santa Lucia

An inhumation and cremation cemetery in Slovenia with more than 6,000 graves, dating to c 9th-2nd centuries BC. The graves' contents showed extensive trade with north Italy and central Europe. The Roman city of Emona (1st century BC) was located there.

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Santa Lucia

Heavy Fraction

The heaviest materials that sink to the bottom of flotation equipment mesh - such as pottery sherds, flint, and large seeds.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Heavy Fraction

Charnel House

Building or vault in which bones or dead bodies are placed

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Charnel House

Foot Warmer

Any of various devices, as a small stove, for keeping one's feet warm

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Foot Warmer

Anatomically Modern Human

The group of humans who were within the range of the modern human species, showing the anatomical traits of moderns such as a cranial capacity of over 1400 cubic centimeters and a chin.

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Anatomically Modern Human

Pecking

A technique of shaping, or producing a design on, stone by hammering. The surface is crushed, usually with a stone hammer, and the dusty fragments swept aside. Incising or pecking designs into rock was practiced by Native American peoples.

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Pecking

Sempukuji

An early Jomon rock shelter site in Nagasaki prefecture on Kyushu, Japan. There is an association of microblades with linear-relief pottery found earlier at Fukui, and an older pottery with discontinuous relief (bean-pattern). Dating puts the sight to the late 11th millennium BC, slightly younger...

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Sempukuji

Floor Vault

A large, formally constructed, rectangular pit, usually excavated into the floor of a pit structure, kiva, or great kiva. Its walls may be earth- or masonry-lined, and evidence for a roof or superstructure may be present. Sometimes vaults are paired, one to the east and one to the west of the hea...

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Floor Vault

Elliot Smith, Sir Grafton

Australian-born anatomist who, with his student W.J. Perry, espoused a theory called hyper-diffusionism which said that all civilizations if not all cultures (including the New World) originated from ancient Egypt. He was involved in the examination of the remains from Piltdown and it has been su...

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Elliot Smith, Sir Grafton

Pantheon

A temple dedicated to a group of gods or collective divinities; the term also refers to the group of gods. The first Pantheon was built by Agrippa in 27-25 BC, and rebuilt by Hadrian sometime between c 118-128 AD, and was one of the most remarkable buildings of Rome. The rotunda was roofed by a d...

archaeologsEnglishArchitectural

Pantheon

Endogamy

The practice of marrying a person within one's own social unit, such as a clan or tribe.

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Endogamy

Green Gully

A Pleistocene site in southern Victoria, Australia, occupied between 15,000 and 4000 BC. Stone tools include large side-trimmed and concave flakes similar to those in Tasmania and at Kenniff Cave of the same period, and bipolar cores. Bones of two individuals, one male and one female, were found ...

archaeologsEnglishPlace Names

Green Gully

Temet

Neolithic site in northeast Niger, Africa, dated c 9500 BP; its stone industry had blades, bladelets, and microliths.

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Temet

Pachacamac

A large pre-Columbian ruin in the Lurin Valley on the central coast of Peru. The earliest major occupation and construction of Pachacamac dates to the Early Intermediate Period (c 200 BC-600 AD) by the Early Lima culture (Maranga, Interlocking style). The terraced adobe pyramid and temple known a...

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Pachacamac

Discard Rate

The typical rate at which a group or society disposes of its unwanted objects; plentiful, easily replaced items tend to have a higher discard rate than rare or highly durable ones.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Discard Rate

Lithic Experimentation

Experimenting with the manufacture of stone tools, a useful analytical approach to the interpretation of prehistoric artifacts.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Lithic Experimentation