Inhumation

The practice of burying the dead, contrasting with cremation and exposure. Burial may be in a dug grave, or in a natural or built chamber - and may be simple or elaborate. Terms commonly used to describe it are: extended (with spine and leg bones more or less in a straight line), flexed (with the...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Inhumation

Side-Notched Point

Type of stone point which is chipped on both faces and having notches on both sides near the base. They are characteristic of the Northern Archaic tradition in North America.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Side-Notched Point

Niello

Powdered sulfides of copper, silver and lead, heated and used to make a bluish-black plastic substance applied to metalwork. The material was soft; it was cast into the cut-out pattern on the object and polished flat. It was used particular to decorate the inlaid daggers of shaft grave circles at...

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Niello

Cham

A linguistic and ethnic group of the Austronesian family which once controlled the central coast of modern Vietnam as the state of Champa.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Cham

Mojeque

Major Initial Period ceremonial center on the north-central coast of Peru. The site is on a linear axis with the large mound of Moxeke at one end and Huaca A at the other. There are small U-shaped structures parallel to the central axis.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Mojeque

Geology

The study of the physical, chemical, and biological processes and products of the earth; simply, the study of the history of the earth and an understanding of the time scale over which man developed. Geology's aims overlap considerably with those of archaeology, particularly in the prehistoric pe...

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Geology

Residential Group

Physical gathering of people at the domestic, territorial, or community level.

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Residential Group

Prosek, Frantisek

Czechoslovakian archaeologist who specialized in the Palaeolithic and was instrumental in establishing the stratigraphic position of the Szeletian industry in Central Europe.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Prosek, Frantisek

Wessex

The kingdom of the West Saxons founded by Cerdic in the upper Thames Valley c 494/495 AD and from another site, known only from archaeological evidence, situated on the upper Thames and was probably settled from the northeast. Wessex first spread in influence to the south and west and was one of ...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Wessex

Staraja Ladoga

Major north Russian town founded in the 10th century on the left bank of the river Volkhow, 20 km from its outlet in Lake Ladoga close to the eastern end of the Baltic Sea. Although Scandinavian material has been found, the Russians firmly contend that the town is Slavic in character and origin a...

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Staraja Ladoga

Status

Individual position or rank in society in relation to all other members of the society. This may be determined by his personal achievements in life (achieved status) or by his birth and ancestry (ascribed status).

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Status

Spindle Whorl

A circular object with a central perforation intended to act as a fly wheel on a spindle, giving momentum to its rotation - an artifact providing evidence of the spinning of thread. It would maintain the momentum of the spindle rotated by the spinner while he/she teases more fibers out of a fleec...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Spindle Whorl

Mastaba

The Arabic word for 'bench', a mudbrick superstructure of Egyptian tombs, mainly of the Archaic Period and Old Kingdom, including the royal tombs of the 1st and 2nd Dynasty. It was a low, rectangular building with a flat roof and vertical or slightly inclined walls that enclosed the shaft to the ...

archaeologsEnglishArchitectural, Tombs

Mastaba

Declination

The difference between true and magnetic north. In astronomy, the angular distance of a body north or south of the celestial equator.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Declination

Kalibangan

A site in India near the extinct Ghaggar/Hakra River with Early and Mature Harappan settlements. A Chalcolithic settlement similar to Kot Diji and the site underlying the Indus city at Harappa has given radiocarbon dates of c 2750 BC. An intact plowed field has been discovered, indicating that th...

archaeologsEnglishPlace Names

Kalibangan

Quipu

A mnemonic device used by the Inca for keeping accounts and records. It consisted of a number of thick cords of various thicknesses and colors, on which numbers and other data were indicated by knots of different sizes and positions on the strings. Based on a decimal system, the color of the cord...

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Quipu

Unifacial Tool

A stone tool flaked in such a way as to produce a cutting edge that is sharp on one side only

archaeologsEnglishTools

Unifacial Tool

Chariot

A light vehicle of war, usually carrying two people, a warrior, and a driver. Examples have been found from the Uruk period in Mesopotamia and the chariot was on the standard of Ur. It first appeared in the Near East in the 17 century BC, associated with the immigrant peoples who became the Hykso...

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Chariot

El-Wad

Cave site on Mount Carmel, Israel, with an industry of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic containing Mousterian tools and Emiran points. That level was followed by Aurignacian-like Upper Palaeolithic levels, Atlitian layers, and Natufian levels.

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El-Wad

Piki

An archaeological phase occurring in Ayacucho basin in central Andes, Peru, with artifacts dating c 5800-4550 BC.

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Piki

Flag

A piece of fabric with a design, used as an emblem for military or naval purposes, signaling, decoration, display, propaganda etc.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Flag

Lagash

One of the most important capital cities of ancient Sumer, located midway between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southeast Iraq. The city was founded in the prehistoric Ubaid Period, c 5200-3500 BC, and was still occupied as late as the Parthian era, 247 BC-224 AD. In the Early Dynastic Perio...

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Lagash

Transliteration

The act or process of rewriting the characters or letters (signary) of one language into those of another used to represent the same sounds; writing in the closest corresponding characters of another alphabet or language. It is possible to reconstruct the original spelling from a transliteration,...

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Transliteration

Use-Life

The length of time a tool or artifact is used before it is discarded; the sequence a tool goes through from production to discard.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Use-Life

Culture Change

Any significant modification in the essential structure and elements of a culture over a period of time.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Culture Change