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prehistory
prehistory period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to provide a coherent account. The study ...
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Vere Gordon Childe
Vere Gordon Childe 1892-1957, British archaeologist, b. Australia. An Oxford graduate, he taught at the Univ. of Edinburgh (1927-46) and the Univ. of London (1946-56). He gained renown for his monumental synthesis of European prehistory, The Dawn of European Civilization (1925, 6th ed. 1957), and...
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Tiryns
Tiryns , ancient city of Greece, in the NE Peloponnesus, 2.5 mi (4 km) N of Nauplia (now Návplion) and near Argos. The site seems to have been inhabited since the 3d millennium BC It was a city of splendor from c.1600 to c.1100 BC Excavations begun by Heinrich Schliemann and Wilhelm Dörp...
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Bering Strait
Bering Strait c.55 mi (90 km) wide, between extreme NE Asia and extreme NW North America, connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is usually completely frozen over from October to June. The Diomede Islands are in the strait. The narrowness of the strait makes it possible for small boat...
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Clovis culture
Clovis culture a group of Paleo-Indians (see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the ) known through artifacts first excavated in the early 1930s near Clovis, N.Mex. The artifacts, including chipped flint points known as Clovis points and a variety of additional stone tools, were found along wit...
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William James Durant
William James Durant 1885-1981, American historian and essayist, b. North Adams, Mass. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1917 and published his doctoral dissertation, Philosophy and the Social Problem, in the same year. This was followed by The Story of Philosophy (1926), an immediate best...
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Bronze Age
Bronze Age period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the Copper Age. The earliest use of cast m...
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Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
Les Eyzies-de-Tayac , or Les Eyzies, village (1993 est. pop. 856), Dordogne dept., SW France, on the Vézère River. Situated some 15 mi (24 km) SW of the Lascaux caves (see Paleolithic art ), the village is in an area rich in prehistoric remains. The more than 100 archaeological si...
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Folsom culture
Folsom culture , a group of Paleo-Indians (see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the ) known through artifacts first excavated (1926) near Folsom, E of Raton, N.Mex. The artifacts, including chipped flint points known as Folsom points and a variety of other stone tools, were found in associatio...
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barrow
barrow in archaeology, a burial mound. Earth and stone or timber are the usual construction materials; in parts of SE Asia stone and brick have entirely replaced earth. A barrow built primarily of stone is often called a cairn . Barrows occur in many parts of the world; they were built during the ...
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