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Potsherd
This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z See also * Outline of archaeology * Table of years in archaeology * Glossary of history References Bibliography * * * * * * * * * External links About.com Archaeology Glossary {{Glossaries of science and engineering Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standing Stone
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top. Menhirs are found across Europe, Africa, and Asia, with a concentration in Western Europe, notably in Ireland, Great Britain, and Brittany. Theories concerning their purpose remain speculative, with hypotheses ranging from Ancient Celtic religion, druidic rituals to territorial markers or elements of an ideological system. Some menhirs feature Engraving, engravings, including anthropomorphic figures and symbols, and are often associated with ancient religious ceremonies and Chamber tomb, burial chambers. Etymology The word ''menhir'' was adopted from F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excavation (archaeology)
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be conducted over a few weeks to several years. Excavation involves the recovery of several types of data from a site. This data includes artifacts (portable objects made or modified by humans), features (non-portable modifications to the site itself such as post molds, burials, and hearths), ecofacts (evidence of human activity through organic remains such as animal bones, pollen, or charcoal), and archaeological context (relationships among the other types of data).Kelly&Thomas (2011). ''Archaeology: down to earth'' (4th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Before excavating, the presence or absence of archaeological remains can often be suggested by, non-intrusive remote sensing, such as ground-penetrating radar. Basic inf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Archaeology
Environmental archaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which emerged in the 1970s and is the science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in. The field represents an archaeological-palaeoecological approach to studying the palaeoenvironment through the methods of human palaeoecology and other geosciences. Reconstructing past Natural environment, environments and past peoples' relationships and interactions with the landscapes they inhabited provide archaeologists with insights into the origins and evolution of anthropogenic environments and human systems. This includes subjects such as including Prehistory, prehistoric lifestyle adaptations to change and economic practices. Environmental archaeology is commonly divided into three sub-fields: * archaeobotany (the study of plant remains) * zooarchaeology (the study of faunal remains) * geoarchaeology (the study of geological processes and their relationship to the archaeologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface. Types There are two broad categories of archaeological earthwork: positive features where earth is built up above the previous ground level, and negative features which are cut into the landscape. Beyond this, earthworks of interest to archaeologists include hill forts, henges, mounds, platform mounds, effigy mounds, enclosure (archaeology), enclosures, long barrows, tumulus, tumuli, ridge and furrow, motte-and-bailey castle, mottes, round barrows, and other tombs. * Hill forts, a type of fort made out of mostly earth and other natural materials including sand, straw, and water, were built as early as the late Stone Age and were built more frequently during the Bronze Age and Iron Age as a means of protection. See also Oppidum. * Henge eart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disturbance (archaeology)
A disturbance is any change to an archaeological site due to events which occurred after the site was laid down. Disturbances may be caused by natural events or human activity, and may result in loss of archaeological value. In some cases, it can be difficult to distinguish between features caused by human activity in the period of interest, and features caused by later human activity or natural processes. Causes Natural causes The soil science, soil scientist Francis D. Hole identified nine natural processes resulting in soil disturbance, including the movements of animals and plants (known as bioturbation, and including burrowing, root growth and tree uprooting, treefalls); freezing and thawing; movement under gravity (including earthflow and rockslides); swelling and shrinking of clays; the actions of wind and water; the growth and dissolution of salt crystals; and movement caused by earthquakes. Different sites are subject to different degrees, combinations, and interactio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological Culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between these types is an empirical observation. Their interpretation in terms of ethnic or political groups is based on archaeologists' understanding. However, this is often subject to long-unresolved debates. The concept of the archaeological culture is fundamental to culture-historical archaeology. Concept Different cultural groups have material culture items that differ both functionally and aesthetically due to varying cultural and social practices. This notion is observably true on the broadest scales. For example, the equipment associated with the brewing of tea varies greatly across the world. Social relations to material culture often include notions of identity and status. Advocates of culture-historical archaeology use the notion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single Context Recording
Single context recording was initially developed by Ed Harris and Patrick Ottaway in 1976, from a suggestion by Laurence Keen. It was further developed by the Department of Urban Archaeology (Museum of London) from where it was then exported, in the mid-1980s by Pete Clarke to the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust and Nick Pearson to the York Archaeological Trust. It has become a popular system of recording and planning being used in many countries in Europe and in Lebanon, it is especially suited to the complexities of deep, typically urban, archaeology. Each excavated context is given a unique "context number" and is recorded by type on a context sheet and perhaps being drawn on a plan and/or a section. Depending on time constraints and importance contexts may also be photographed, but in this case a grouping of contexts and their associations are the purpose of the photography. Finds from each context are bagged and labelled with their context number and site code for l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Palaeolithic Europe
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity in early modern humans. It is followed by the Mesolithic. Anatomically modern humans (i.e. ''Homo sapiens'') are believed to have emerged in Africa around 300,000 years ago. It has been argued by some that their ways of life changed relatively little from that of archaic humans of the Middle Paleolithic, until about 50,000 years ago, when there was a marked increase in the diversity of artefacts found associated with modern human remains. This period coincides with the most common date assigned to expansion of modern humans from Africa throughout Asia and Eurasia, which may have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals. The Upper Paleolithic has the earliest known eviden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blade (archaeology)
In archaeology, a blade is a type of stone tool created by striking a long narrow lithic flake, flake from a stone lithic core, core. This process of reducing the stone and producing the blades is called lithic reduction. Archaeologists use this process of flintknapping to analyze blades and observe their technological uses for historical purposes. Blades are defined as being flakes that are at least twice as long as they are wide and that have parallel or subparallel sides and at least two ridges on the dorsal (outer) side. Blade cores appear and are different from regular flaking cores, as each core's Conchoidal fracture, conchoidal nature is suited for different types of flaking. Blades are created using stones that have a cryptocrystalline structure and easily be fractured into a smooth piece without fracturing. Blades became the favored technology of the Upper Palaeolithic era, although they are occasionally found in earlier periods. Different techniques are also required fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section (archaeology)
In archaeology a section is a view in part of the archaeological sequence showing it in the vertical plane, as a cross section, and thereby illustrating its profile and stratigraphy. This may make it easier to view and interpret as it developed over time. Sections Half-sectioning is the usual method whereby one half of a feature is excavated and the remainder left in situ. Large linear features may be sectioned at intervals along their lengths. Sectioning has fallen out of favour in some schools of practice because detail is often missed in section that is important to the phasing of the site. Examples of detail that is revealed poorly "in section" include gravel or thin cobbled surfaces. The main problem with sections is that the arbitrary location of their placement may "clip" or "just miss" contexts that reveal a different story from the one interpreted by the archaeologist. For instance thin liner features such as wheel ruts may be sectioned at an oblique angle giving the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
