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Spheroid (lithic)
In archaeology, a spheroid is a piece of rock that has been shaped into a nearly spherical shape ('' spheroidal''). Spheroids have been found at sites from as long ago as 1.8 million years. It is not known what their purpose was, but it has been speculated that they were used as projectiles in hunting. At one site ( Ubeidiya prehistoric site near the Sea of Galilee, 1.4 million years old) around 600 baseball-sized spheroids of limestone, basalt, and flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ... have been found, and it has been demonstrated that they were not simply hand axes that became spherical through use, but were deliberately made as spheres. References Lithics {{archaeology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, archaeological site, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. The discipline involves Survey (archaeology), surveying, Archaeological excavation, excavation, and eventually Post excavation, analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spheroidal
A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has circular symmetry. If the ellipse is rotated about its major axis, the result is a ''prolate spheroid'', elongated like a rugby ball. The American football is similar but has a pointier end than a spheroid could. If the ellipse is rotated about its minor axis, the result is an ''oblate spheroid'', flattened like a lentil or a plain M&M. If the generating ellipse is a circle, the result is a sphere. Due to the combined effects of gravity and rotation, the figure of the Earth (and of all planets) is not quite a sphere, but instead is slightly flattened in the direction of its axis of rotation. For that reason, in cartography and geodesy the Earth is often approximated by an oblate spheroid, known as the reference ellipsoid, instead of a spher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ubeidiya Prehistoric Site
Ubeidiya (; ), some 3 km south of the Sea of Galilee, in the Jordan Rift Valley, Israel, is an archaeological site of the early Pleistocene, years ago, preserving traces of one of the early expansions of hominins out of Africa, earliest migrations of ''Homo erectus'' out of Africa, with (as of 2014) only the site of Dmanisi in Georgia (country), Georgia being older. The site yielded hand axes of the Acheulean type, but very few human remains. The animal remains include a hippopotamus' femur bone, and an immensely large pair of horns belonging to a species of extinct bovid. The site was discovered in 1959 and was first excavated between 1960 and 1974. The site is distinct from nearby Tell Ubeidiya. Etymology The prehistoric site is named for Ubeidiya, Tiberias, which was centered on Tell 'Ubeidiya but List of towns and villages depopulated during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, depopulated during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The name Ubeidiya may be derived from the b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
