Camelid

A member of the family that includes camels, llamas, and their relatives, all of which have feet with two toes and thick leathery soles

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Camelid

Hammerhead Mortarium

A mortarium with a rim and flange that form a single unit, shaped like the head of a hammer, its centre meeting the body of the vessel at right angles.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Hammerhead Mortarium

Sinew Frayer

A tool similar in shape to a scraper but with serrated edges, which may have been the forerunner of the saw. Primitive tribes today use similar stones to stroke sinews into fibers for sewing.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Sinew Frayer

Uniform Distribution

A probability density function whereby all potential observations within a specified range have an equal probability of occurring.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Uniform Distribution

Zinjanthropus

Name originally given to a robust Australopithecus found in Bed I at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by Louis Leakey, characterized by unusually massive jaws. Potassium-argon dating suggests that he lived about 1.75 million years ago. This fossil is now classified as Australopithecus boisei or Australo...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Zinjanthropus

Population Estimation

The determination by archaeologists of the suspected population of an ancient culture. Estimates of the number of inhabitants of a settlement can be attempted on the basis of the number of houses, number of burials, or population density - but these estimates involve many assumptions.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Population Estimation

Archaeological

Of, relating to, or concerning archaeology.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Archaeological

Yang Shao

The most important Neolithic culture of China, distributed along the middle course of the Yellow River in north-central China and dated to c 5000-2700 BC. Large open settlements of circular or rectangular houses slightly sunk into the ground cluster along the loess river terraces. It is distingui...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Yang Shao

Megaloceros

An extinct giant elk of the Pleistocene ('giant deer'), whose best-known species M. giganteus was abundant in Ireland, Europe, and western Asia. It had the largest antlers of any deer known - some 13 feet (4 m) across. Its remains are sometimes found in Palaeolithic assemblages and there are rare...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Megaloceros

Arroyo

A dry gully or steep-sided bed of a seasonal stream. The term is also used for a rivulet or stream.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Arroyo

Terra Amata

Lower Palaeolithic site in Nice, France, with occupation from the Mindel glaciation c 380,000 BP through 11 total levels. The levels are ascribed to the Acheulian, but few tools or handaxes have been recovered.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Terra Amata

Molluscan Analysis

The analysis of molluscan remains, of both marine and land species, as part of the examination of the environment of man. A mollusk/mollusc is any of a large phylum (Mollusca) of invertebrate animals (as snails, clams, or squids) with a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a calcareous shell...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Molluscan Analysis

Ancient Dna

Genetic material preserved in the archaeological remains of bones and plants that can be studied for past genetic relationships

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Ancient Dna

Paleosol

A soil profile that is buried under subsequently deposited sediment.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Paleosol

Sign

Non-figurative representations found engraved or painted in Palaeolithic parietal art, including tectiforms (hut shapes) and claviforms (club shapes) which may be ethnic markers.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Sign

Aceramic

Without pottery or not using pottery. This term is applied to periods and societies in which pottery is not used, especially in contrast to other periods of ceramic use and with neighboring ceramic cultures. Aceramic societies may use bark, basketry, gourds, leather, etc. for containers.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Aceramic

Valencia

Ceramic complex of red-colored jars, one of the best known in Venezuela and found on a number of mound sites in north central part of country. The shapes of huge human figurines with flat, wide heads are very distinctive. Typically the pottery is coarse and sand- or mica-tempered. Decoration may ...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Valencia

Aharoni, Yohanan

An Israeli archaeologist who worked at Arad, Lachish, and Beersheba.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Aharoni, Yohanan

Oxus Treasure

A collection of Persian art of the Achaemenidian period (6th-4th century BC) now in the British Museum, London. It was discovered in 1877 on the bank of the Oxus River near the present Afghanistan-Russian border. This large hoard of gold and silver metalwork included a variety of jewelry, ornamen...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Oxus Treasure

Elgin, Lord

British diplomat known for obtaining permission to remove the marble metopes from the Parthenon in Athens to London. Since 1816 these sculptures, known as the 'Elgin marbles' have been housed in the British Museum. The removal of these sculptures from their source has often been criticized as par...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Elgin, Lord

Pyrotechnology

The intentional use and control of fire by humans.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Pyrotechnology

Foundation Deposit

A collection of objects buried within the walls or under the floors of a building to ensure the goodwill of the gods to the householder(s).

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Foundation Deposit

Deposition

Any of the various processes by which artifacts move from active use to an archaeological context, such as loss, disposal, abandonment, burial, etc. It is the laying, placing, or throwing down of any material. In geology, it is the constructive process of accumulation into beds, veins, or irregul...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Deposition

Le Croy Point

An Early Archaic bifurcate, chipped-stone projectile point of the US Southeast, small- or medium-sized with short triangular blades. They are dated c 6500-6000 BC and found in Ohio and Tennessee river drainages and north to the Great Lakes.

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Le Croy Point

Antler Sleeve

A section of deer antler carved into a cavity or hole at one end to hold a stone ax head. The piece was either set into a socket in a haft or perforated to attach to the haft. This material was used for its resilience and shock-absorbing value in tool-making. Roughly trimmed antler picks have bee...

archaeologsEnglishOthers

Antler Sleeve