Spear-Thrower

A device which increases the power with which a spear can be hurled; a long stick with a hooked end which holds the butt of a spear. The implement usually has finger grips at one end. The device thus becomes an artificial extension of the thrower's arm, giving him increased leverage and range and...

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Spear-Thrower

Hog-Backed Grave Cover

The distinctive stones used to cover graves during the 10th century AD in northern England and southern Scotland. They are characterized by rectangular blocks of stone with a flat bottom and pitched top. The upper surfaces are usually decorated with interlaced designs. They may have been made in ...

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Hog-Backed Grave Cover

Lerici Periscope

A subsurface detection probe fitted with a periscope or camera and light source, used to examine subterranean chambers - most often Etruscan tombs. The Lerici Foundation of Milan and Rome has had great success with this method since the development of the periscope, first used in 1957 in an Etrus...

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Lerici Periscope

Volute

A spiral scroll decorating capitals of the Ionic order.

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Volute

Boundary

A zone of vertical change from one soil horizon to another. They are described in vertical distance - as abrupt, clear, or gradual - and the horizontal character as being smooth, wavy, or irregular.

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Boundary

Data Processing

A stage in archaeological research design usually involving, in the case of artifacts, cleaning, conserving, labeling, inventorying, and cataloging.

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Data Processing

Macaroni Style

In art, Late Paleolithic finger tracings in clay, the oldest form of art known. Innumerable examples appear on the walls and ceilings of limestone caves associated with human habitation in France (Pech Merle) and Spain, the oldest dating from about 30,000 BC. They range from simple scratchings an...

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Macaroni Style

Le Placard

Cave site in the Charente region of France with Solutrean and Magdalenian levels with much industry and art material. Included in the artifacts were well-carved batons-de-commandement and other decorated, carved objects as well as engravings on the walls.

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Le Placard

Trenail

A wooden cylinder or dowel used for pinning planks or timbers together.

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Trenail

Archaeological Geology

The use of geological techniques and methods to archaeological work. It is different from geoarchaeology in that the latter is a subfield of archaeology focusing on the physical context of deposits.

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Archaeological Geology

Caka

A Late Bronze Age urnfield cemetery in Slovakia with some high-status burials of bronze breastplate.

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Caka

Akrotiri

The site of a Bronze Age town on Thera/Santorinin in the Aegean, buried by a volcano in the 16th century BC. Excavation have revealed houses with polychrome frescoes. There is evidence of links with Minoan Crete.

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Akrotiri

Etic

Referring to the perspective of the observer; a view external to the culture being studied. It is applied to concepts and distinctions that are meaningful and appropriate to the community of scientific observers.

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Etic

Perishable

Any artifact made from organic materials that ordinarily would decay but for some reason was preserved. Such artifacts include basketry, cordage, and leather.

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Perishable

Ban Tha Kae

A prehistoric site in central Thailand near copper sources with a long sequence from Neolithic through Iron ages, paralleling Khorat sites.

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Ban Tha Kae

Schela

Late Mesolithic and Neolithic site in western Romania of the Iron Gates gorge of the River Danube with radiocarbon dates of 6800-5600 BC. The Schela group is contemporary with the sites of Vlasac, Lepenski Vir, and Padina and includes cave as well as open sites. Burials are found, located around ...

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Schela

Birdstone

A class of prehistoric stone objects of undetermined purpose, usually resembling or shaped line a bird; carved bird effigies. These polished stone weights occurred in the cultures of the Archaic tradition (8000-1000 BC) and later cultures in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. They were proba...

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Birdstone

Craft Specialization

The making of crafts - pottery, jewelry, clothing, ornaments stone tools, etc. - by specialists, people who do nothing but make that craft.

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Craft Specialization

Engraving

A technique for decorating ceramics that involve cutting linear designs into the surface of an object.

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Engraving

Kish

An Early Dynastic city-state of ancient Sumer near Babylon, spreads over a series of tells. Occupation began in the Jemdet Nasr period, succeeded by Early Dynastic levels containing the remains of a royal Sumerian palace. There are also Neo-Babylonian forts, temples, tombs, and a Parthian fort an...

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Kish

Site Catchment Analysis

A method of reconstructing the economy of a site by studying the resources that are available within a reasonable distance, generally 1-2 hours' walking time from the site. The technique was devised by E. Higgs and C. Vita-Finzi for 'the study of the relationship between technology and those natu...

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Site Catchment Analysis

Hydroceramic

Designating porous, unglazed pottery in which liquids were cooled or filtered.

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Hydroceramic

Design Structure

The layout or arrangement of a design; the way the surface area to be decorated is conceptualized - whether subdivided and bounded - and the arrangement of elements and motifs within that layout

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Design Structure

Nabataean

A rich merchant Semitic people who established a kingdom south and east of Edom - ancient Midian, on a trade route from Red Sea to Mediterranean, by the 6th century BC. The Nabataeans infiltrated Edom and forced the Edomites into southern Palestine. They made Petra (in Jordan) their capital in c ...

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Nabataean

Secondary Use

An artifact or feature showing an alternate or later use that differs from its original function. For example, an abandoned well might be used as a refuse pit.

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Secondary Use