Belzoni, Giovanni

Italian excavator of Egyptian sites, who is known as a picturesque and unscrupulous collector of Egyptian antiques as well as a pioneer in Egyptology. Belzoni sought antiquities both for himself and for the British Consul-General on behalf of the British Museum, whose collection he enhanced enorm...

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Belzoni, Giovanni

Soda-Lime Glass

Glass produced using soda derived by burning seaweed and kelp.

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Soda-Lime Glass

Coconut

The nut or seed of the coco-palm, whose white flesh may be eaten. It was probably cultivated in Southeast Asia by 3000 BC and then spread by Austronesians through the Pacific and eventually to central America, India, and East Africa. Charred fruits occur in western Melanesian sites back to c 3000...

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Coconut

Sedimentation

The process of deposition of a solid material from a state of suspension or solution in a fluid (air, water, ice). It also includes deposits from glacial ice and those materials collected by gravity, or accumulations of rock debris at the base of cliffs. Depending on the conditions of sedimentati...

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Sedimentation

Unsystematic Survey

A simple walking survey across each part of the area, scanning the strip of ground along one's path, collecting or examining artifacts on the surface, and recording their location together with that of any surface features.

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Unsystematic Survey

Edge Angle

The angle of the cutting edge of a stone (or other material) tool. The edge angle often indicates the purpose for which the tool was used. Edge-wear analysis is the microscopic examination of the working edges of tools.

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Edge Angle

Logical Positivism

The philosophical position that there is an objectively knowable past that can be discovered through rigid adherence to scientific methods.

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Logical Positivism

Calcareous Concretion

A rounded mass of mineral matter occurring in sandstone, clay, etc. - often in concentric layers around a nucleus.

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Calcareous Concretion

Lindenschmit, Ludwig

Brothers who attributed burials they excavated at Selzen near Mainz to Great Invasions and the Franks. They used comparative methods and made proper use of terminus post quem provided by dates on coins.

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Lindenschmit, Ludwig

Faunal Association

A relative age determination technique based on archaeological associations with remains of extinct species.

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Faunal Association

Microstructure

The arrangement of phases of a material; in a ceramic, the internal arrangement of crystalline and amorphous materials, pores, and boundaries between them

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Microstructure

Skeleton

The bony supporting element in the bodies of vertebrate animals. It consists of the axial skeleton - skull (including teeth) and vertebral column - and the appendicular skeleton - ribs, girdles and limbs. In man, the proportions of various bones are fairly generalized, but in other animals bones ...

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Skeleton

Sketch Map

A roughly drawn map with few details. An impressionistic rendering of a region, site, or feature made without instruments, therefore showing no geographical direction or elevation and with distances estimated by pacing. The Incas used sketch maps and cut some in stone to show relief features. Man...

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Sketch Map

Woodhenge

Large wood circle, a sacred monument just northeast of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, and adjacent to Durrington Walls. It consists of a henge-type earthwork with a wooden structure inside. A central grave was surrounded in turn by six egg-shaped concentric rings of postholes, a ditch, and a b...

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Woodhenge

Maes Howe

A magnificent passage grave in Orkney, Scotland, roofed by corbeling and covered by a circular cairn surrounded by a ring ditch. Its unusual plan is a squared burial chamber with three rectangular cells opening from it through doorways placed about a meter above the level of the chamber floor. No...

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Maes Howe

Bambandyanalo

A hill that forms the eastern boundary of K2 in Transvaal, South Africa, where a site dates to the 11th-12th centuries AD - the southern African Iron Age.

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Bambandyanalo

Obverse

The side of a coin or medal bearing the head or principal design.

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Obverse

Myrtou-Pigadhes

Site of a Late Cypriot settlement and sanctuary in northern Cyprus, built c 1400 BC. The sanctuary was used until c 1175 BC and contained an ashlar alter with horns of consecration.

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Myrtou-Pigadhes

Stratigraphic Excavation

The layers of a site are excavated accroding to their natural shapes and dimensions and in the reverse order to that in which they were deposited.

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Stratigraphic Excavation

Differentiation Rule

A set of differentiation rules determining the range and types of distinctions that can be recorded for each attribute.

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Differentiation Rule

Coffin Texts

A collection of ancient Egyptian funerary texts consisting of spells or magic formulas that are intended to aid the deceased in their passage to the hereafter. The text was painted on or in burial coffins from the First Intermediate period (c 2130-1939 BC) and the Middle Kingdom (1938-c 1600 BC)....

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Coffin Texts

Fraser River

A complex of sites in the Fraser River delta in British Columbia, Canada, showing the sequence of the Northwest Coast Tradition of three periods: Early 1000 BC-1 AD; Intermediate 1-1250 AD; and Late from 1250 AD. Three culturally distinct areas (the Canyon, the Plateau, and the Delta) contain evi...

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Fraser River

Leveling

To establish the height above the site datum of a number of points (spot heights) which will either record the level of the surface of a feature or layer, or enable a contour survey to be constructed. It also means to find the heights of different points in (a piece of land) esp. with a surveyor'...

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Leveling

Archaeozoology

The study of animal remains, especially bones, from archaeological contexts, including the identification and analysis of faunal species as an aid to reconstructing human diets, determining the impact of animals on past economies, and in understanding the environment at the time of deposition. An...

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Archaeozoology

Burrill Lake

A rock shelter on the southeast coast of New South Wales, Australia, with deposits dated to the Pleistocene c 18,000 BC. Stone artifacts included flake scrapers and dentated saws. Around 3000 BC, Bondi points and other tools of the Australian Small Tool Tradition appeared.

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Burrill Lake