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GLOSSARY

absolute dating:

Dating using a chemical, physical, or biological technique or by reference to dated historical events that produces an age (or range of ages) in years for archaeological remains rather than simply a position relative to other finds. One example of absolute dating is the carbon-14 method. Also known as "chronometric dating."

Aceramic Neolithic:

A period in which people relied on domesticated species and lived in permanent settlements but did not extensively use or manufacture pottery. Generally used to specify a portion of the Neolithic in the Near East between approximately 8500 B.C. and 7000 B.C. but also used for similar periods in Greece, Crete, and Cyprus. Also known as the "Pre-Pottery Neolithic."

achieved status:

Prestige and social rank acquired through personal deeds. Antonym of "ascribed status."

acropolis:

An elevated area of a city containing temples and courtyards. Some have origins as hilltop fortifications.

ad sanctos burial:

Positioning of burials around a holy or otherwise revered grave or monument.

adze:

A cutting tool with a broad and flat blade that—in contrast to an axe—is hafted with the blade perpendicular to the line of the handle. Commonly used for trimming timbers.

affinal:

Of or concerning a relationship formed by marriage.

agora:

A forum; an open area for a market and other assemblies.

alignment:

Positioning objects, such as standing stones, in a line, often to mark a celestial event or topographical feature.

allée couverte:

See gallery grave.

alloy:

A combination of two or more metals that creates a new metal, as in the mixing of tin and copper to make bronze.

alluvium/alluvial plain:

Sediment deposited by flowing water in a riverbed or across a flood-plain. The resulting landscape is referred to as an alluvial plain.

amber:

Fossilized tree resin. A valued trade item often carved and polished into jewelry, ornaments, and other objects. Most European amber comes from the Baltic region.

amphora (pl. amphorae):

A pottery vessel with a narrow neck, two handles, and either a pointed or a rounded base. Used for storage and transportation of goods such as wine, oil, fruit, and salted meat.

AMS radiocarbon dating:

A radiometric dating technique that counts individual carbon isotopes. It is faster and requires smaller amounts of carbon than traditional methods of carbon-14 dating (AMS = accelerator mass spectrometry).

androcentric:

Male centered.

Annales school:

An intellectual perspective emphasizing that different processes operate at different chronological and geographical scales. This school of thought also stresses the need for adopting a multidisciplinary approach to studying the past. Associated with the French historians Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel, and others known as Annalistes.

anoxic:

Possessing extremely low levels of oxygen.

anthropogenic:

Created by humans. Often used with reference to soils and vegetation.

anthropomorphic:

In the shape of or possessing characteristics of a human.

antiquarianism:

The study of ancient monuments before the development of modern archaeological techniques. Often associated with a lack of rigorous methods for data collection and hypothesis testing. Antiquarians interpreted prehistoric remains in terms of the historic record, so, for example, they attributed Stonehenge to the Romans or the ancient Druids.

apse:

A projecting portion of a building that is semi-circular in plan and has a vaulted roof, like the recess extending from the choir of a church.

archaeobotany:

The study of plant remains from archaeological sites, including seeds, plant fibers, pollen, and phytoliths.

archaeological culture:

A term used to designate a recurring assemblage of material goods associated with a particular time and space. Archaeological cultures are defined by archaeologists and may have little connection to groups or identities recognized by the people using the material goods.

archaeozoology:

See zooarchaeology.

ard:

An early type of plow that cuts into soil without turning it over. Also known as a "scratchplow."

armature:

1. A stone tool made for hafting. Often used in reference to microliths. 2. A framework, usually one used to support an object during construction.

artifact:

An object created or otherwise altered by humans.

ascribed status:

Prestige and social rank conferred through heredity. Antonym of "achieved status."

ashlar masonry:

A drystone masonry made using squared stones to produce tightly fitting joints and a smooth wall face.

assemblage:

A group of artifacts derived from an archaeological feature or set of features.

astragalus:

A bone located in the foot that articulates with the tibia (shinbone). One of a group of bones known as "tarsals." Generally called a "talus" in humans.

Atlantic climatic period:

A subdivision of the Holocene epoch in northern Europe. Extends from c. 6000 B.C. to 3800 B.C. Relative to modern conditions, a warm and wet (or "oceanic") climate characterized the period. See also Preboreal, Boreal, Subboreal, and Subatlantic climatic periods.

auger:

A drilling tool used in extracting soil samples. Unlike coring tools, augers disturb the structure and stratigraphy of samples retrieved.

aurochs:

The common name for Bos primigenius, the wild ancestor of domestic cattle (Bos taurus).

Austrasia:

The eastern portion of the Frankish empire (the areas under the control of Merovingian and Carolingian rulers).

autochthonous:

Term applied to archaeological developments within a particular region as opposed to those introduced from outside that region.

B.P.:

A dating convention indicating years before the present, with "present" defined as A.D. 1950.

balk:

The unexcavated edge of an archaeological trench or unexcavated areas between trenches. Used to preserve and analyze stratigraphy. Also spelled "baulk."

ballista balls:

Objects, generally of stone, propelled from a military engine designed much like a crossbow.

barbotine:

A pottery decoration technique in which thick slip is applied to the surface of pottery, often in designs. The result is a roughened surface.

barrow:

A round or elongated mound constructed from earth and/or stone, often containing a burial.

basal:

Lowest, as in the bottom stratum of an excavation, or earliest, as in the basal phase of construction.

beaker:

A decorated pottery vessel, generally in the shape of an inverted bell. Beaker vessels are characteristic of an archaeological culture associated with the spread of copper metallurgy across western Europe.

berdache:

A term for groups categorized as neither male nor female, but rather as a third gender or as transgendered. Also known as "two-spirit."

biconical:

Double-coned. Possessing a shape that is widest in the middle and tapers toward both ends, as in pottery, or, alternatively, widest at both ends and narrow at the middle, as in some copper objects.

bifacial:

Retouching done on both sides (faces) of a stone tool.

biome:

A large-scale ecological zone, such as savanna or tundra.

biritual cemetery:

A cemetery in which both inhumation and cremation burials are found.

blade:

A long, parallel-sided stone tool, conventionally one that is more than twice as long as it is wide and struck from a prepared core, often by indirect percussion.

Boreal climatic period:

A subdivision of the Holocene epoch in northern Europe. Extends from c. 8500 B.C. to 6000 B.C. Although the period is part of the trend of increasing temperatures following the end of the last glaciation, relative to conditions in the Atlantic period, a cold and dry ("continental") climate characterized the period. See also Preboreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, and Subatlantic climatic periods.

boreal forest:

Vegetation that is typical of subarctic areas without permafrost but which have severe winters and a short growing season. Predominant tree species include conifers.

bracteate:

A disk-shaped pendant, usually made of gold and decorated with repoussé designs. Also a type of coin.

Breckland:

1. A region in eastern England occupying a portion of Norfolk and Suffolk. 2. (not capitalized) A tract of heathland with thickets of shrubby vegetation, especially heather.

broch:

A circular drystone tower with a central courtyard. The wall is generally less than fifty feet tall. Habitation occurred both inside and outside the enclosure. The walls are generally hollow, containing chambers and/or stairways that access a roof walk. Associated with Iron Age Scotland.

bucranium (pl. bucrania):

A carved cattle skull used as a decoration on a building.

burin:

A chisel-shaped stone tool with a sharp but stout edge. Used for a variety of purposes but conventionally associated with engraving bone, antler, and other materials.

burnished:

Polished. Used with reference to the surface of pottery and metal artifacts.

bush fallow cultivation:

See shifting cultivation.

cairn:

A pile of stones. Often used as a term for a barrow made from stone but also used for smaller mounds, such as those produced when clearing a field of stones.

calcine:

To heat to drive off impurities or volatile matter. Often used to describe methods for creating lime or refining precious metal.

caprine:

A term used to refer to both sheep and goats.

capstone:

A stone slab placed horizontally across the tops of orthostats to form the ceiling of a megalithic tomb.

carbon-14 dating:

Also known as "radiocarbon age determination." See radiocarbon dating.

carburization:

A method of heating iron in contact with carbon to produce a steel-like metal.

Cardium:

A genus of shellfish commonly known as cockles. Use of their shells for decorating pottery is characteristic of Cardial ware, a Neolithic pottery type in the Mediterranean region.

carinated:

A term used in describing the profile of a vessel. A carination is a sharp break in a curve that forms a ridge (an arris), as in the joint between the neck and body of a vessel.

case hardening:

A term for various thermochemical methods of hardening the surface of metal. Carburizing is one type.

causewayed enclosure:

A monument possessing a series of concentric ditches filled at points to create passages into a central area. Although evidence of permanent structures inside the enclosure is rare, refuse deposited in ditches is abundant. Also known as "causewayed camps."

celt:

A polished axe head of either ground stone or metal.

cenotaph:

A tomb or similar memorial built for a person whose remains are elsewhere.

chain mail:

A protective garment made from loops of metal woven together.

chambered tomb:

A tomb with a vault for burials. Often built from megaliths, these tombs can take a variety of forms, including passage graves, dolmens, and gallery graves.

chasing:

An ornamental indentation or groove hammered or punched into metal.

chatelaine:

An attachment for a purse, set of keys, or other item hung from a belt, particularly a woman's belt.

cheekpiece:

1. An attachment connecting a horse bit to the reins. 2. An attachment to the rim of a helmet that protects the side of the face.

chernozem:

A deep, rich, humic soil of dark color, like those associated with prairies and grasslands.

chert:

Various types of rock composed of micro-crystalline quartz that occur as nodules or masses in a sedimentary environment. Many varieties of chert are prized raw materials for stone tool making. Variation in usage of this term does occur. Technically, flint is one variety of chert, but frequently chert is defined as similar to flint but more coarse grained and less desirable for stone-tool production. Flint and chert are often also used synonymously.

chiefdom:

A social organization with a defined leadership organizing the distribution of resources. Generally, surpluses of food and other goods are paid to the chief, who redistributes them to subordinates. Often, chiefdoms have ceremonial centers acting as focal points for group members. Chiefdoms usually are distinguished from states by being smaller in scale and possessing a less complex administrative apparatus.

chronology:

An ordering of events into a temporal sequence, as in a timeline.

chronometric:

See absolute dating.

chronozone:

A small stratigraphic unit corresponding to deposits laid down during a chron (the smallest interval of geological time in the hierarchy of the Chronomeric Standard terms).

Cisalpine:

Located to the south of the Alps.

cist:

A subterranean boxlike structure with sides and a cover built from stone slabs. Used for burial.

city-state:

An autonomous political entity composed of an urban center and its hinterland.

civitas (pl. civitates):

Originally, a self-governing territory in the Roman Empire and the primary urban center in that area. By the early medieval period, the term was used for important ceremonial centers, urban or otherwise.

client king:

A ruler subordinate to an overlord. Also known as a "petty king."

clinker technique:

A boat-building technique in which the sides of the boat are made of overlapping planks, in the same manner as clapboards on the side of a house. Such boats are also known as "clinker-built."

cloisonné:

An inlay technique using gems, glass, or enamel set into a metal framework. Cloisons are individual cells in the framework.

coiling:

A method of making pottery in which coils of clay are laid on top of each other to create a desired shape. The joints between coils are then smoothed over.

collagen:

A protein molecule forming nearly all of the organic content of bone. Collagen gives bones a degree of flexibility and elasticity.

colonia (pl. coloniae):

A settlement for veterans of the Roman military.

comitatus:

Latin for "retinue" or "escort." A group that has sworn allegiance and service to a king, particularly for military duty.

consanguine:

Of the same blood; possessing a common ancestor.

context:

The find location of an artifact, including its matrix (surrounding soil), its provenance, and its associations with other artifacts.

coppice/coppicing:

1. A forest or grove consisting mainly of slender shoots and small trees. 2. A method of forest management involving cutting trees low to the ground so that they produce small shoots.

corbeled vault/corbel-vaulted:

A drystone masonry vault made by setting stones in rings of gradually decreasing diameter until the vault is closed. Also known as a "false arch."

core-reduction technique:

A generic term for the various processes of removing flakes and otherwise modifying a core in the process of making stone tools. A core is the nodule of flint or other stone from which flakes are removed as tools are made. See also flake and blade.

coring (at a site):

The process of retrieving cylindrical samples, generally of wood or soil. In contrast to augers, coring tools tend to remove materials with their structure and stratigraphy undisturbed.

cover sand:

A continuous layer of sand, usually deposited by wind. Often causes the rapid burial of archaeological sites and landscapes.

crannog:

An artificial island in a lake, usually built as the foundation for a dwelling. Common in the British Isles during the Iron Age and the medieval period. See also lake dwelling.

cremation:

Incineration of a body.

crucible:

A vessel in which compounds, particularly precious metals, are heated or calcined.

cruciform:

In the form of a cross.

CT scan:

An image produced through computed tomography (CT), which gives a cross-sectional "slice" through an object. CT images are sensitive to materials of various densities so that, for example, when a scanner is used on a body, the image clearly shows both soft tissue and bone. Individual "slices" also can be combined to produce three-dimensional representations. Also known as a "computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan."

cuirasse:

A protective garment, usually of leather, covering the torso from waist to neck.

cultigen:

A domesticated species for which the wild ancestor is unknown, although the term is sometimes used to refer to cultivated plant species more generally.

cultivar:

A horticulturally or agriculturally derived plant species, as distinguished from its wild counterpart.

Danegeld:

Payments by Anglo-Saxons in an effort to stop raids by Scandinavians in the late tenth century A.D. Anglo-Saxon coins found in Scandinavia often are associated with these payments.

delayed-return foragers:

A group with a huntingand-gathering system in which return on labor invested in collecting or managing resources is not immediate.

debitage:

Waste material created in the process of making and retouching stone tools.

demic diffusion:

A wave-of-advance model postulating that a rising population and random migration of small groups drove the spread of Neolithic culture across Europe. Demes are small populations of closely related individuals.

denarius (pl. denarii):

A type of coin, usually struck from silver but also from gold. Originally a Roman type of coin, denarii also were minted in the medieval period.

dendrochronology:

Tree-ring dating. A dating technique that matches variation in tree-ring width from a wood sample to a master pattern reconstructed from sequences extending from the present backward into antiquity.

denticulate:

Serrated or possessing numerous toothlike projections. Used to describe the results of a particular process of retouching the edge of a stone tool.

diffusion:

The spread of traits and behaviors through contact between people. Often associated with the belief that traits and behaviors have a single point of origin and appear elsewhere only through imitation.

direct dating:

Direct dating applies a technique of absolute dating (such as carbon-14 dating) to an artifact (or organic material) or an ecofact to establish its age rather than relying on the dating of associated material such as charcoal from the same context.

dirham:

An Arabic silver coin of the medieval period and later. Also spelled "dirhem."

disarticulated:

Disconnected or disjointed. Used particularly in reference to bones moved out of their original relationship with one another.

dolmen:

A megalithic monument constructed from upright stone slabs supporting a capstone slab. Also used as a generic term for "megalithic chambered tombs."

downland:

An elevated landscape in southern England with rolling hills and a thin layer of soil derived from underlying chalk beds. Owing to extensive grazing, downlands are now associated with low, grassy vegetation; however, before the advent of grazing, downlands were wooded.

droveway:

A pathway along which animals are driven or herded, usually defined by earthen banks.

drystone (walling):

Stone masonry constructed without the use of mortar.

dugout boat:

A boat made from a hollowed-out tree or log.

dump rampart:

A defensive earthwork consisting of a wide, flat-bottomed ditch outside a steep bank. Also known as a "Fécamp rampart."

dyke:

A linear earthwork built as a fortification to protect a large region. Also spelled "dike."

ear spool:

An object, usually disk shaped, inserted into a perforation in the earlobe. Perforations can reach several inches in diameter through insertion of increasingly larger spools.

earthwork:

A monument constructed from earth and other material piled into a bank or a mound.

ecofact:

An item that is neither made nor modified by humans but can provide information on past environments and/or the ways these environments were used by past peoples.

ecotone:

An area of transition between ecological habitats or communities.

einkorn:

The common name for an early domestic species of wheat (Triticum monococcum) and its wild relatives. One of two early types of wheat domesticated in the Near East. See also emmer.

electrum:

An alloy of silver and gold.

elm decline:

A reduction in the prevalence of elms occurring c. 3800 B.C., near the time of the first appearance of agriculture in northern Europe. There has been much debate about whether the change is anthropogenic or due to other factors, such as disease.

emmer:

The common name for an early domesticated species of wheat (Triticum dicoccum) and its wild relatives. One of two early types of wheat domesticated in the Near East. See also einkorn.

emporium (pl. emporia):

A trade and manufacturing settlement connected to a long-distance exchange network, often founded and administered through royal control. These settlements were centers of urbanization in medieval Europe, although the status of individual settlements as truly urban is debated.

enamel hypoplasia:

A horizontal indentation running across tooth enamel and resulting from a period of malnutrition.

Epipalaeolithic:

In Europe this term refers to Palaeolithic cultures existing after the end of the last glaciation. Often used to create a distinction with Mesolithic cultures, but occasionally the terms are used as synonyms. In the eastern Mediterranean the term is used to refer to terminal Pleistocene hunter-gatherers.

epistemology:

Study of the basis for and nature of human knowledge, with emphasis on its limitations.

ethnogenesis:

A process that results in the creation or redefinition of ethnic identities.

eustasy/eustatic:

A rise in sea level.

excarnation:

A burial custom involving removal of soft tissue through exposure or other means before deposition of skeletal remains.

extended burial:

Deposition of a body in a grave with legs straightened.

faience:

A glassy substance made from baked clay and shaped into ornaments, beads, and other jewelry. Also used as a slip on pottery.

faunal analysis:

See zooarchaeology.

faunal spectrum:

The range of animals identified in a zooarchaeological assemblage.

feature:

A nonportable component of an archaeological site. Common types include burials, walls, and pits.

Fécamp rampart:

See dump rampart.

fen:

A low-lying marshy area at least partly covered by water, usually with basic or neutral pH (in contrast to a bog, which has acidic pH).

fibula (pl. fibulae):

1. A Latin term for a metal pin with a clasp, used to fasten garments and similar in design to a safety pin. Often highly ornamented with forms specific to a particular time and place. 2. The lateral and smaller of the two bones in the lower leg. Articulates with the tibia (shinbone).

field system:

A set of agricultural fields that articulate with one another.

filigree:

A decorative design made from fine wire affixed to the surface of an object. Also, other ornamental work intended to resemble such wirework.

firedog:

Iron stands for logs burning in a hearth. Also known as "andirons."

flagon:

A metal or ceramic vessel with a handle, a spout, and usually a hinged lid.

flake:

A thin piece of stone removed from a core in the process of making stone tools. Refers to both pieces used as tools and waste products.

flat grave:

A burial executed without a mound or other prominent aboveground structure.

flexed burial:

Deposition of a body with the legs pulled up to the torso. The body also is often placed on its side. Also known as a "contracted burial."

flotation:

A process for retrieving minute plant remains difficult to recover through hand collection. Sediments are poured into moving water, and the light material is held in suspension so that it can be collected in a fine mesh sieve.

foederatus (pl. foederati):

Roman irregular troops, drawn from outside the empire and often given land grants in return for service.

foragers:

Groups acquiring food and other resources primarily through hunting and gathering.

Free Germany:

The area associated with Germanic peoples living beyond the formal boundary of the Roman Empire.

frontlet:

A band worn across the forehead.

Fürstengrab (pl. Fürstengräber):

A German term for a burial possessing unusually rich assemblages of burial goods, commonly associated with the Iron Age. From the German words Fürst, meaning "prince," and Grab, meaning "grave."

Fürstensitz (pl. Fürstensitze):

A German term for a defended hilltop settlement possessing a permanent population and associated with unusually rich material culture, commonly of the Iron Age. From the German words Fürst, meaning "prince," and Sitz, meaning "seat."

gallery grave:

A form of chambered tomb with no distinction between the entrance passage and the burial chamber, giving the interior a hall-like shape. Also known as "allée couverte."

geoarchaeology:

Archaeological research using the methods and theories of geology and other earth sciences, usually with an emphasis on soil formation processes and postdepositional changes in archaeological deposits.

geochemical:

Relating to the chemical properties of geological features or compounds.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS):

A database program for mapping and analyzing spatial data. Used, for example, to generate maps illustrating the relationship between the availability of water and the distribution of artifacts in a landscape.

geomorphology:

The study of processes creating and reshaping landscapes.

geophysical:

Relating to the form and composition of geological features. Often used as a generic term for various noninvasive survey techniques that utilize differences in the physical properties of buried features and surrounding soils, such as resistivity and magnetometry studies.

glacis:

A gentle incline, especially the slope below a fortification.

Global Positioning System (GPS):

A satellite-based system for determining longitude, latitude, and sometimes elevation.

gold foil:

Gold hammered into an extremely thin sheet. Used to gild objects.

grindstone:

Stone used for milling grain. See also quern.

groove-and-splinter technique:

A means of creating elongated plaques of bone, antler, and other materials that can be worked into tools. Parallel grooves are cut into the surface of the material. Beginning at one end of the grooves, the plaque is pried up until it is "splintered" off at the other end of the grooves.

ground-penetrating radar:

A noninvasive method of identifying subterranean features in which radar waves are directed into the ground. The reflected energy is measured and analyzed to produce horizontal and vertical maps of subsurface features.

groundstone (tool):

A type of stone tool, often an axe, with an edge created by grinding against an abrasive material.

hafting:

Placing a point or other tool into another material to create a shaft or handle, as in an axe head affixed to a wooden shaft.

halberd:

An axe-like weapon with a pointed blade mounted at a right angle to the shaft. Common in the Bronze Age.

hand axe:

A type of stone tool that is bifacially modified, with an edge running around the circumference of the tool. Often teardrop shaped. Also called a biface.

henge:

A circular enclosure defined by a bank and ditch, often with the ditch placed inside the bank (the opposite of the arrangement used for defensive purposes). Common internal features include pits, burials, structures, and stone circles. Usually dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age.

hillfort:

An enclosed settlement located on high ground. The enclosure can be defensive and/or ceremonial. Some hillforts appear to have had large numbers of inhabitants. Others have little evidence of habitation.

historiography:

The study of how history is written. Particularly, theories about how history should be constructed from the limited knowledge available.

Holocene:

A geological epoch extending from the end of the last glaciation, c. 9500 B.C., up to the present. The Holocene in Europe is conventionally divided into the following periods: Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, and Subatlantic.

horizontal excavation:

An excavation technique that involves removing individual layers by following their horizontal extent before moving on to lower layers.

hunebed:

Megalithic tombs of Germany and the Netherlands. Derived from the Old German word hune, meaning "big" or "huge."

hypocaust:

A gravity-based central heating system developed by the Romans, in which hot air is drawn from a furnace into spaces under a floor.

indirect percussion:

A stone-tool production technique. Instead of striking a core directly with a hammer stone, force is directed more precisely by placing an antler point or other material on the core and striking it with a hammer stone. Associated with the production of blades.

inhumation:

A burial practice in which bodies are not extensively modified before deposition.

interfluve:

The land between two waterways flowing in the same direction.

interglacial:

A climatic period with relatively warm temperatures and retreating glaciers that occurs between colder periods when glaciers are advancing.

intramural burial:

Deposition of a body within a settlement.

isostasy/isostatic:

The rising land levels that occur after glaciers retreat and the Earth's crust returns to its equilibrium position after being pressed down by the weight of ice.

isotopic analysis:

Analysis of the combination of isotopes (varieties of an element) within an object. Used to reconstruct diet and provenance.

jet:

A type of fossil wood that is dense, hard, and black. Often polished and worked into jewelry.

karst:

A landscape with underground streams, caverns, and sinkholes resulting from the erosion of limestone bedrock.

keratinous:

Of or relating to the fibrous tissue that characterizes horns, hooves, and fingernails.

kin group:

A population of closely related individuals, usually larger than a family group of parents and children. The boundaries of such groups vary from culture to culture.

knap:

To remove flakes of stone in the process of making stone tools. An individual who knaps flint is known as a "flintknapper."

krater (pl. kraterae):

A vessel with a rounded body and wide mouth, used for mixing and serving wine.

kurgan:

A burial mound or barrow, especially in Eastern Europe and Siberia. Kurgans gave their name to an archaeological culture in this area that is also characterized by wheeled vehicles and copperworking.

kylix:

A drinking vessel usually made of ceramic or metal and with two horizontal handles.

ladder of inferences:

A term for the theory that archaeologists confront an ascending scale of difficulty in studying different components of a society. Technological and ecological components are thought to be the least difficult to study. Economic and political organization are thought to be more difficult and ideology or religious beliefs the most difficult. Accordingly, archaeologists must be increasingly circumspect about their interpretations as they ascend these different "rungs." Critics of this theory argue that the perception of increasing difficulty results from archaeologists' approach and is not an inherent property of archaeological data. This theory is also known as Hawkes's ladder, after Christopher Hawkes, who elaborated the theory in a 1954 article.

laetus (pl. laeti):

A Latin term for a prisoner of war or other non-taxpayer, often from groups outside the Roman empire, recruited into the Roman military. Laeti were given grants of land in return for their service.

lake dwelling:

A settlement built along the shoreline of a lake, especially in Alpine areas during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. See also crannog.

lead isotope analysis:

A type of isotope analysis that assesses the prevalence of different lead isotopes in an object made from lead or in other materials containing traces of lead. Used to establish provenance. See also isotope analysis.

leister:

A fishing spear with several barbed prongs, thrust down over the back of the fish to grip it.

lime:

1. Calcium oxide, at times with other materials added. Used in making mortar. 2. European name for trees of the genus Tilia, which flourish in temperate climates. Also known as "linden" in North America.

limes:

The fortified Roman imperial frontier, used specifically with reference to the Rhine-Danube frontier in central Europe but often applied to other Roman imperial borders as well.

Linearbandkeramik:

An early Neolithic archaeological culture in central Europe characterized by the presence of pottery decorated with incised linear motifs. Also known as the "Linear Pottery culture."

lintel:

Wood, stone, or other material placed across the top of an opening in a wall as reinforcement. Also used to describe a megalith resting in a horizontal position across other upright megaliths.

lithic:

Made of or relating to stone.

littoral zone:

1. The lands surrounding a body of water. 2. The shoreline between the high and low waterlines.

loess:

A dense, pale yellow type of soil consisting largely of glacial debris deposited by wind.

longhouse:

A rectangular structure, often constructed using wooden posts, that is relatively long compared to its width. A common dwelling type in both the Neolithic and the Iron Age.

loom weight:

An object, usually of stone or clay, tied to the warp strings of a loom to maintain tension during weaving.

lost-wax technique:

A method of metal casting in which an object is modeled in wax. Then a mold of clay, sand, or other material is formed around the wax object. When molten metal is poured into the mold, the wax is "lost" and replaced by a metal copy of the original shape.

lur (pl. lurer):

A long, curved horn made of metal, often cast in sections. Produced in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age.

mace-head:

A heavy, blunt weapon similar to a sledgehammer with a rounded head. Often decorated and carried as a symbol of authority.

magnetometry:

A noninvasive survey technique that collects data about small-scale changes in the electromagnetic properties of an area to identify subsurface features.

mandible:

The lower jawbone.

matriliny:

The practice of tracing descent through the maternal line.

matrilocal:

A residence pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the wife's family.

megalith:

A large, flat stone used architecturally to construct a monument or portion of a monument, such as a tomb, henge, or alignment. Usually not modified by further working.

menhir:

A single upright megalith.

meseta:

Spanish term for a tableland or mesa. A flat and elevated area that has an abrupt rise from the surrounding landscape. The term is used for areas larger than a butte.

metapodials:

Elongated bones located between the wrist and fingers or between the ankle and toes. Known as "metacarpals" in the hand and "metatarsals" in the foot. The number and shape of these bones vary significantly between species.

microburin technique:

A technique for producing microliths. A notch is removed from a blade. The blade is then snapped, creating a microlith and a by-product with a burin form (a microburin).

microlith:

A small stone tool created by snapping a blade into a series of smaller pieces or removing a blade from a very small core. Usually hafted into wood or other material.

midden:

A trash dump. More specifically, an accumulation of debris, usually food and other occupation refuse, deposited in a defined area, such as a hole in the ground or a portion of a settlement.

mitochondrial DNA:

A type of DNA existing outside the cell nucleus, where most DNA is located. In sperm, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is located in the region that does not enter the egg. Consequently, mtDNA is inherited matrilineally and is not recombined with each new generation. Since mtDNA has a constant rate of mutation, the difference between the mtDNA of two individuals is a function of the time elapsed since they shared a female ancestor. Best known for its use in identifying a last common ancestor for all modern humans, the so-called mitochondrial Eve.

moraine/morainic:

A term used for a variety of landscapes resulting from the accumulation of soil and other material moved and deposited through glacial activity, frequently in the form of linear ridges.

mordant:

A substance that combines with dye to create an insoluble compound that fixes to cloth.

moldboard plow:

A plow fitted with a blade that turns over the soil as it cuts a furrow. Also known as a "heavy plow" because it is used to farm soils too heavy for an ard.

multivallate/multivallation:

Possessing more than one enclosing bank and/or ditch.

murus Gallicus:

Julius Caesar's term for ramparts surrounding Gallic towns. They had external faces of timber and stone. They were also reinforced with timbers buried perpendicular to the external face and extending backward into the earthen backing.

necropolis:

Greek for "city of the dead." A cemetery, generally one associated with a settlement but located outside its limits.

Neustria:

The western portion of the Frankish empire (the area under the control of Merovingian and Carolingian rulers).

New Archaeology:

A set of approaches to archaeological interpretation emphasizing the value of hypothesis testing and other scientific methods, the need for incorporating ecology into explanations of social change, and a view of society as composed of interacting subsystems with discrete relationships to one another. Also known as "processual archaeology."

nuraghe (pl. nuraghi):

Circular stone towers, often with corbeled chambers inside. Associated with the Bronze Age in Sardinia.

obsidian:

Volcanic glass, a valued material for stone toolmaking.

ochre:

A naturally occurring substance consisting largely of iron oxide. The color of ochre depends on the variety of iron oxide. The most common colors are red and yellow. Used as a pigment and a decoration. Also spelled "ocher."

ogham:

A type of script with approximately twenty letters consisting of lines arranged along or across a baseline. Known most commonly from inscriptions along the edge of a stone pillar. Probably originating in the fourth century A.D., ogham is found around the Irish Sea littoral, particularly in Ireland. Also spelled "ogam."

open-cast (mining):

A mining technique in which the overburden is removed to uncover the desired material, as opposed to deep mining, which involves tunneling underground.

oppidum (pl. oppida):

A Latin term for a large fortified settlement of the Iron Age, often located on hilltops and other elevated locations. They acted as centers for habitation, trade, and manufacturing. Julius Caesar used the term to describe settlements in Gaul.

orthostat:

An upright stone slab in a megalithic monument.

outworks:

A secondary defensive structure, usually an earthwork, constructed beyond or as an extension of primary defenses.

oxhide ingots:

An ingot is a mass of metal cast into a convenient and/or standardized shape for storage and transport. Oxhide ingots are cast in a shape reminiscent of the stretched hide of an ox.

oxygen isotope analysis:

A technique for reconstructing past climatic conditions. Ocean water and rainwater have different ratios of two oxygen isotopes. In cold periods, when rainwater is locked in glaciers, ocean water has a different ratio than it does during warm periods, when glaciers are smaller and more rainwater returns to the ocean. Changes in the ratio are recorded in the remains of foraminifera, organisms that absorb oxygen isotopes during their life. These organisms fall to the ocean floor at death and are retrieved by coring the ocean floor.

P-Celtic:

One of two branches of the Celtic family of languages. Also known as Brittonic, this group includes Welsh, Breton, and Cornish. The other branch is known as Q-Celtic, or Goidelic, and includes Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic. The division is based on phonological differences between the two groups that appear to extend into extinct Celtic languages.

palaeoanthropology:

The study of early human and hominid evolution and history, particularly during periods associated with species ancestral to Homo sapiens. Palaeoanthropologists often study both human fossils and the archaeological remains associated with them.

palaeoethnobotany:

The study of plant utilization and beliefs about plants in ancient societies.

palaeosol:

A buried land surface or soil horizon. Indicative of past environmental conditions. Also spelled "paleosol."

palisade:

A fence of stakes, usually creating a defensive enclosure.

palmette:

A decorative motif in the form of a palm frond.

palstave:

A type of axe head with flanges that facilitate hafting.

palynology:

See pollen analysis.

paramount chiefdom:

A disproportionately strong chiefdom, usually with authority over subordinate chiefdoms.

passage grave:

A type of chambered tomb with a narrow passageway leading to a central camber.

pastoralism:

A social organization based on managing livestock.

patriliny:

The practice of tracing descent through the paternal line.

patron-client system:

The practice of loaning goods to subordinates. The terms of the loan usually require the return of the original grant plus additional goods and/or services.

penannular brooches:

A type of brooch with a circular ring interrupted at one point. The two terminal ends of the ring are often enlarged and highly ornamented.

petroglyph:

A drawing carved into rock. Usually reserved for works on large boulders or immobile outcroppings of stone.

phenomenology:

The study of the experience and awareness of being human in a material and social world. Also the study of acts of perception and self-awareness and their cognitive implications. In archaeology this perspective has fostered attempts to understand monuments based on the experience of being in a particular landscape and of moving through and around monuments.

phosphate analysis/mapping:

Phosphates are abundant in animal waste, fat, and other organic materials. Geochemical analysis identifies concentrations of phosphates in archaeological sites as a method of reconstructing how an area was utilized.

phytolith:

A silica structure formed between plant cells. Phytoliths are useful to archaeobotanists because they often have species-specific forms and remain when other portions of plants decay.

piling:

A timber driven into the ground to serve as the foundation of a building. Also known as a "pile."

pit house:

A structure with its floor dug below ground level, often with timber walls and a gabled roof supported by posts. Also known as a "Grubenhaus" or a "sunken-featured building" (SFB).

pithos (pl. pithoi):

A ceramic vessel used for the storage of oil, grain, and other materials. Also used as a container for bodies in certain inhumation practices.

Pleistocene:

The geological epoch beginning approximately 1.8 million years ago and ending about ten thousand years ago with the beginning of the Holocene. This period is characterized by alternating periods during which glaciers expanded and contracted. See also interglacial.

pollen analysis:

The study of pollen with the aim of reconstructing changes in vegetation through time. Also known as "palynology."

polymetallic ores:

Ores with more than one predominant metal.

pommel mount:

An attachment creating a knob or similar protuberance at the end of the hilt of a sword. Often highly decorated.

postdepositional:

Of or relating to occurrences after an object has been buried.

post-processual archaeology:

A disparate set of approaches to archaeological interpretation that developed in reaction to perceived limitations in processual archaeology and the scientific method in general. Post-processualists emphasize the influence of assumptions and biases that investigators bring to research and the impossibility of escaping their influence. Instead of attempting to escape those biases, post-processualists advocate use of a defined ideological perspective. This perspective also tends to view artifacts as lacking intrinsic or absolute meaning. They are best understood as evocative of meanings from the contexts in which they were used.

posthole:

A pit dug for the insertion of a timber, stone pillar, or other similar upright object. Such pits are then backfilled to pack material around the post. Usage of this term varies. At times its meaning is restricted to only the space occupied by the post itself. That space is often preserved as a darker soil than the fill of the entire pit. Such features are also known as "post pipes" or "post molds." With this usage, the entire hole is generally called a "post pit."

potin:

A bronze alloy with a high proportion of tin.

PPNA:

An abbreviation of Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, a subdivision of the Aceramic Neolithic in the Near East dated between 8500 B.C. and 7600 B.C.

PPNB:

An abbreviation of Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, a subdivision of the Aceramic Neolithic in the Near East dated between 7600 B.C. and 6000 B.C.

Preboreal climatic period:

A subdivision of the Holocene epoch in northern Europe. Extends from c. 9500 B.C. to 8500 B.C. During this first period of the Holocene, forests colonized northern Europe. See also Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, and Subatlantic climatic periods.

preceramic:

A term used for an aceramic period of the Neolithic period in Greece, Crete, and Cyprus. See Aceramic Neolithic.

pressure flaking:

A method for retouching stone flakes by pressing down with a sharpened piece of antler or other similar object, rather than striking the flake with a hammer. The application of pressure detaches a small, flat flake.

processual archaeology:

See New Archaeology.

provenance:

The location where an object was found. In archaeology the find spot of an artifact is usually expressed as a point in the three-dimensional space of an archaeological excavation. Also spelled "provenience."

quern:

A grinding stone, usually operated by hand.

rachis:

In plant anatomy, the term for the structure that connects a seed casing to the stalk of a plant. This structure is more robust in domestic varieties of wheat than in their wild progenitors.

radiocarbon dating:

A radiometric dating technique based on the decay of carbon 14. The amount of carbon 14 in an organism begins to decrease at death because the organism is no longer taking up the isotope from its environment. By measuring the amount of carbon 14, it is possible to estimate the time elapsed since the death of an organism. The primary limitations of the technique are that atmospheric carbon-14 levels vary over time (complicating calculation of how much carbon 14 was in an organism at death) and that it is generally not useful for objects more than fifty thousand years old (owing to the short half-life of carbon 14).

radiolarite:

A type of chert formed predominantly from the siliceous remains of a marine zooplankton called radiolaria. Used in making stone tools. See also chert.

radiometric dating:

An absolute dating technique utilizing the radioactive decay of atoms. Since radioactive isotopes have predictable rates of decay, the amount of an isotope in an object is linked to the age of the object.

ranked society:

A society in which access to resources is unevenly distributed. A stratified or hierarchical society.

rath:

See ringfort.

red ochre:

See ochre.

redistribution:

The collection of goods and subsequent allotment of those goods to group members. Often associated with the development and maintenance of centralized authority in a ranked society. See chiefdom.

relative dating:

Dating methods that rely on stratigraphy and artifact typology to establish the chronological position of finds in relation to one another but without the assignment of an age in years. Used primarily prior to the development of absolute dating methods such as carbon-14 dating.

repoussé:

A decorative technique in which ornamentation is pressed or hammered into the back of sheet metal.

resistivity survey:

A noninvasive technique for investigating subsurface features that is based on variation in the resistance to electric current offered by different materials. Resistivity is measured by passing current between two probes.

revetment/to revet:

A facing, usually of stone, used to reinforce an embankment.

retouch:

Secondary working of a flake or other stone tool to modify its shape or edge quality. Retouching generally involves removing smaller flakes through indirect percussion or pressure flaking.

ringfort:

A type of enclosure common in early medieval Ireland, usually 30–40 meters in diameter. Enclosures are defined by banks, ditches, and stone walls. Ringforts were often used as lightly defended farmsteads, although some have yielded little evidence of occupation. Also known as "raths."

roundhouse:

A structure with a circular perimeter. A common type of dwelling across northwestern Europe, particularly in the British Isles.

rune/runic:

A letter in one of several alphabets used by Germanic groups in the early medieval period. Often found as inscriptions on stones (rune stones).

sarsen:

A type of sandstone used in building megalithic monuments.

satrap:

Originally a provincial governor in Persia. Used as a generic term for a local potentate.

sceatta:

An Anglo-Saxon or Frisian silver coin.

scramasax:

A short, single-edged stabbing sword.

scriptorium:

An area of a monastery devoted to copying manuscripts.

Secondary Products Revolution:

The theory that after an initial period of domestication, when humans used animals for primary products, such as meat and hides, a change occurred in animal exploitation as humans began to use animals as sources of milk, wool, traction, and other "secondary" products. Some argue that no such radical change occurred and that the apparent revolution is only an intensification of previous practices.

semiflexed burial:

Deposition of a body with the legs pulled only partially toward the torso. The body also is often placed on its side.

seriation:

A chronological ordering of artifacts according to changes in frequency, form, and decoration.

settlement pattern:

A characterization of the way in which habitations and other structures are arranged across a landscape, including such variables as form, size, distribution, and density.

shell midden:

An accumulation of refuse from the collection and consumption of shellfish. Burials, tools, and other types of refuse are often included.

sherd:

A fragment of pottery or worked clay. Also known as "shard" or "potsherd."

shield boss:

An attachment to the center of a shield, often dome shaped or pointed.

shifting cultivation:

An agricultural system in which areas are cleared of native vegetation, cultivated, and then left unused for a period of time to replenish the soil with nutrients. See also bush fallow cultivation and swidden.

ship setting:

A Viking period Scandinavian burial monument characterized by an oval arrangement of stones in the outline of a boat, usually with taller stones representing stern and bow posts.

site:

Any location where artifacts, ecofacts, or archaeological features are found. Types of sites range from a scatter of a few flints to an entire city.

situla (pl. situlae):

A bucket-shaped vessel, usually of pottery or bronze.

slag:

Refuse from smelting metal. Usually a glassy, porous, and fused material.

sling stone:

A rock collected for use as a missile and thrown with a sling. Often found as caches on the perimeter of defended settlements.

slip:

Viscous material applied to the surface of pottery before firing. Composed of clay, water, and often colorants or other additives.

smelting/smelted:

The process of refining ore in a furnace.

solidus:

A Roman gold coin.

sounding:

A test pit dug through the layers of a site to allow for preliminary investigation of a site's stratigraphy and underlying features.

souterrains:

A subterranean chamber constructed from stone. Common in Ireland, western Britain, and Scotland.

spectrographic analysis:

A technique for identifying the combination of elements in an object. Often an object possesses a unique combination of trace elements that allows archaeologists to define its origin. The presence of trace elements is identified by measuring the wavelengths of radiation emitted from samples.

spindle whorls:

An implement used in spinning thread and yarn to maintain the momentum of a rotating spindle. Usually made from stone or clay in the form of a disk or sphere with a hole in the middle.

stable carbon isotopes:

Forms of carbon that do not naturally undergo radioactive decay. Commonly used in studies of provenance and diet.

stater:

A Greek coin of gold or silver.

steatite:

A relatively soft type of stone, well suited to carving and working into vessels. Also known as "soapstone."

stela (pl. stelae):

A stone pillar, usually with carving and/or inscriptions.

stratigraphy:

The layering of sediments into successive strata or the analysis of the results of this process. A cornerstone of archaeological interpretation is that, barring evidence of subsequent disturbance, lower strata were formed in an earlier period than higher strata.

strontium isotopes:

Forms of a mineral component of bone that are absorbed from the environment through diet and other means. Used to reconstruct diet.

Subatlantic climatic period:

A subdivision of the Holocene epoch in northern Europe that begins c. 800 B.C. and extends to the present. As with the Subboreal, cooler temperatures than are found in the Atlantic characterize the Subatlantic period. See also Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, and Subboreal climatic periods.

Subboreal climatic period:

A subdivision of the Holocene epoch in northern Europe that began c. 3800 B.C. and ended c. 800 B.C. Cooler temperatures than are found in the Atlantic characterize the period. See also Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, and Subatlantic climatic periods.

sub-Roman:

A term for groups or territories without an Anglo-Saxon material culture in the period following Roman rule in Britain. Used in preference to the term "post-Roman" because many characteristics of Roman culture endured into the medieval period. Also used in preference to "British" or "Celtic" because "sub-Roman" is less ethnically specific and charged by historical debate.

successor states:

Political units that emerge after the collapse of an empire or other expansive and centralized organization.

supine:

Lying face up with limbs extended.

survey:

The process of investigating and recording the archaeological assets of an area, usually without extensive excavation.

swidden:

An agricultural field created by cutting, burning, or otherwise removing wild vegetation. Usually part of a shifting cultivation system.

taiga:

See boreal forest.

taphonomy/taphonomic:

The study of the processes affecting the remains of organisms, particularly bones, between death and final embedding in the ground. Relevant processes include gnawing by scavengers and dispersal by flowing water.

tell:

A mound in the Near East or southeastern Europe created by building successive settlements, usually from mud bricks, on the same location. Synonymous terms include "tepe" and "hüyük."

temper/tempered:

1. Material, such as coarse sand or ground shell, added to clay in the process of making pottery. The additive makes clay more workable and reduces cracking during firing. 2. The process of hardening metal, particularly iron, by repeated cooling and heating.

tephra/tephrochronology:

Particulate material ejected during volcanic eruptions. When it becomes incorporated into sediment in a landscape, tephra can be used to date the formation of that sediment. For relative dating, in areas where the sequence of eruptions is known, it is possible to correlate the stratigraphy of samples from different areas that possess layers of tephra. Tephra is also useful for absolute dating because the unique form of tephra from some individual eruptions is known.

terp (pl. terpen):

A mound on the coastal plain of the Netherlands and Germany created to raise a settlement above wet ground.

terra sigillata:

A type of fine mass-produced Mediterranean tableware pottery. Made with a glossy red slip applied to its surface. Produced and exported across Europe from the first century B.C. through the second century A.D.

terremare:

An Italian term for a mound created during the Bronze Age by successive settlements built on the same location.

tholos:

A stone chamber capped by a corbeled vault.

Three Age System:

The chronology running from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Developed early in the nineteenth century on the basis of the sequence of change in prehistoric tool technology. The defining characteristics of each age have been refined and elaborated considerably since then. For example, the Neolithic is now defined primarily by the use of domestic animals and plants.

toponym:

Place name.

torc:

A neck ring, often of gold or bronze. Also spelled "torque."

transgression:

The flooding of land, usually due to a rise in sea level.

transhumance:

The movement of livestock seasonally between upland and lowland pasture.

trapeze:

A microlith shaped into the form of a trapezoid (two parallel sides and two convergent sides).

trefoil:

A decorative motif in the shape of a trifoliate leaf, such as a clover.

tremissis:

A Merovingian gold coin.

trepanation:

Medical procedure involving the removal of a piece of a living human's skull. Some skulls bear traces of the survival of multiple trepanations.

trilithon:

A megalithic monument composed of two upright stone slabs supporting a capstone slab, most famously at Stonehenge.

tufa:

Rock formed of calcium carbonate deposited from ground or surface water, as in the material from which a stalagmite is formed. Used as an architectural material. Archaeologists also analyze samples for data about past climates. Also known as "travertine."

tuff:

A geological layer formed of volcanic ash and other material. Also rock composed of compacted or fused volcanic material.

tumulus:

A mound constructed from earth or stone, generally circular and containing a burial. Also known as a "barrow" or "kurgan."

tuyere:

A nozzle used to direct air from a bellows into a metalworking furnace. Often the only surviving evidence of metalworking.

type site:

A find spot that gives its name to, or is used as an exemplar of, a type of settlement, an artifact, or an archaeological culture, usually because it is the location of the first discovery or is the most representative example.

typology:

An ordering of objects into categories, usually based on form and decoration.

urbanism:

Characteristic of an urban center and the associated ways of life.

urnfield:

A cemetery of cremations placed in urns and buried in pits. A burial rite associated with the Late Bronze Age.

Viereckschanze (pl. Viereckschanzen):

A rectilinear enclosure defined by a bank and ditch. The frequent presence within the enclosure of pits and wells containing votive deposits fosters interpretation of these monuments as ritual enclosures, although some argue that they were habitations as well.

viticulture:

The cultivation of grapes.

vitrified fort:

A hillfort with an exterior wall face that is smoothed and fused together by heat and wind.

wattle and daub:

A technique for constructing walls. Wattles are thin rods or tree shoots woven between stakes planted in the ground. Daub is mud, dung, or another type of plaster spread over the wattling.

wave-of-advance model:

A theory that postulates a steady rate of spread, usually of cultural traits, across a landscape over time. Principally associated with the demic diffusion model for agriculture in Europe.

weir:

A barrier set in water to channel fish or other quarry into a trap or a fence in tidal areas over which fish can swim in at high tide but cannot swim out at low tide and thus are trapped on the tidal flat.

withe:

A slender branch or shoot.

wurt (pl. wurten):

See terp.

zooarchaeology:

The study of animal remains from archaeological sites.

zoomorphic:

In the shape of or possessing characteristics of an animal.