Florisbad

A spring deposit in the Orange Free State, South Africa, which preserved a human cranium of Homo sapiens sapiens. Its brow ridges, while pronounced, are markedly less prominent than those of the (presumably earlier) skull from Broken Hill in Zambia. The Florisbad specimen is dated to c 50,000 bc ...

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Florisbad

Broederstroom

An Early Iron Age village site in Pretoria, South Africa from the mid-1st millennium AD. Its remains, including 13 circular houses, gives a fairly complete picture of life at the time. There was iron-smelting and herding of cattle, sheep, and goats. Broederstroom pottery suggests connections with...

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Broederstroom

China

A vitrified / glassy and nonporous ceramic fired to a temperature of 1100-1200 Centigrade.

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China

Arthur

The legendary British king who is described in medieval romances as the leader of a knightly fellowship called the Round Table. It is said that he rallied the British against the Anglo-Saxon invaders and that behind the legend there may be a sub-Roman warleader who filled such a role. Though his ...

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Arthur

Lake Condah

Complex of stone structures in southwest Victoria, Australia, including fish traps and huts, postdating the Late Pleistocene c 4000 bp. Fish-trap systems characterize the Holocene and may have been part of ceremonial gatherings.

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Lake Condah

Leland, John

An early notable antiquarian who, in his official capacity as King's Antiquary to King Henry VIII, toured England and Wales describing places of antiquarian interest, including prominent prehistoric sites. He intended to write a book ("History and Antiquities of the Nation") that would provide a ...

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Leland, John

Sugar Cane

Grasses which contain a sweet syrup in their coarse fibrous stems. It is believed that they were first used by man in the New Guinea region in an early phase of Austronesian settlement c 3000 BC.

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Sugar Cane

Flintlock Pistol

A pistol fired by use of a flintlock. A gunflint is held in the lock which on pulling the trigger pushes back the pan cover creating sparks which set off the powder in the pan causing a flame to go through and set off the charge in the barrel.

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Flintlock Pistol

Au Lac

A kingdom in northern Vietnam, founded by a warlord, Thuc Phan, who combined Van Lang, a state he conquered and united it with his kingdom in 258 BC, and called the new state Au Lac - which he then ruled under the name An Duong. Au Lac existed only until 207 BC when it was incorporated by a forme...

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Au Lac

Krukowski Microburin

A tool backed like a La Mouillah point but the scar runs back onto the body of the bladelet.

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Krukowski Microburin

Hyoid

A horseshoe- or U-shaped bone situated between the chin and the thyroid cartilage and makes up part of the larynx in the throat. It is the only human bone that does not connect with another bone. In man, it is embedded horizontally in the root of the tongue and held in place by several ligaments....

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Hyoid

Khufu

The second king (pharaoh) (reigned 2589-2566 BC) of the Egyptian 4th Dynasty (c 2575-2465 BC), during the Old Kingdom, and the successor of Snefru (2613-2589 BC). His name is an abbreviation of the phrase Khnum-kuefui ('Khnum protects me'). He was the builder/owner of the Great Pyramid at Giza, t...

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Khufu

Lapidary

Of or related to working with or cutting precious or semiprecious stone.

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Lapidary

Wrist Clasp

A type of metal object in pagan Saxon graves in the Anglian areas of England and on the European continent. They are flattened rectangular or triangular pieces of bronze, often gilded or inlaid with silver and decorated with animal ornament. They were used to fasten the cuffs of tunics.

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Wrist Clasp

Cenozoic

The most recent geological era in the earth's history, in which mammals came to dominate animal life. The Cenozoic was 66.4 million years ago to the present and began when Asia acquired its present appearance and mammals came to dominate animal life. The most important tectonic event in the Cenoz...

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Cenozoic

Engobe

A slip coating applied to a ceramic body before glazing to impart a desired color or smooth texture to the surface

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Engobe

V-Perforation

A method of making buttons in which two converging holes are drilled to meet at an angle below the surface. The technique was common in Europe in the Copper and Early Bronze Age, and used especially among the Beaker folk.

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V-Perforation

Ciudadela

Large rectangular enclosures (literally, 'citadels') found in Mesoamerica and thought to have been the dwellings of the ruling classes and their retainers. The enclosures, surrounded by tapering adobe walls, contained courts, storerooms, administrative structures, and platform burials. Some may h...

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Ciudadela

Bone Measurement

The measurement of bones to compare size and shape between different individuals. The dimensions of skeletal structures can be taken using a variety of calipers and other measuring equipment. Multivariate analysis is one method of comparison which helps to identify and distinguish bones by specie...

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Bone Measurement

Transverse Striae

Linear mark, ridge, or groove situated or extending across something

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Transverse Striae

Reliability

The extent to which a measure gives the same result over different situations.

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Reliability

Terminus Ante Quem

Latin phrase meaning 'the end before which' - the date before which a stratum, feature, or artifact must have been deposited. The term is used either to define a relative chronological date for artifacts or provide fixed points in a site's stratigraphy. If a deposit can be securely dated by mater...

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Terminus Ante Quem

Blue Willow Pottery

Blue Willow, first made in England over 200 years ago, is said to be America's favorite patterned ware. Willow Ware is available in a wide range of patterns makers-most identifiable by mark styles and periods-running from 1780 to wares produced today.

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Blue Willow Pottery

Leisner, Georg

Team of German archaeologists who studied megalithic tombs in Iberia. They published a series of monographs, "Die Megalithgräber der Iberischen Halbinsel" (1942-1965).

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Leisner, Georg

Takamatsuzuka

Mounded tomb (tumulus) of the Kofun period which is about 18 m in diameter and 5 m high, dating to the 7th century AD in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Excavation revealed paintings of human and mythological figures and celestial bodies, and murals of Chinese directional symbols, on the walls and the ce...

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Takamatsuzuka