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Documents for "Archaeology: General":

• Angkor site of several capitals of the Khmer Empire , north of Tônlé Sap, NW Cambodia, for about five and a half centuries (9th to 15th), the heart of the empire. Extending over an area of 120 sq mi (323 sq km), the ruins contain some of the most...

• archaeology [Gr.,=study of beginnings], a branch of anthropology that seeks to document and explain continuity and change and similarities and differences among human cultures. Archaeologists work with the material remains of cultures, past and present,...

• 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...

• biblical archaeology term applied to the archaeology of the biblical lands, especially those of the ancient Middle East. While the thousands of written texts found in the languages of the ancient Middle East illuminate the Bible itself, the artifacts...

• Borobudur or Boroboeder , ruins of one of the finest Buddhist monuments, in central Java, Indonesia. Built by the Sailendras of Sumatra, this magnificent shrine dates from about the 9th cent. It is a huge, truncated...

• cairn pile of stones, usually conical in shape, raised as a landmark or a memorial. In prehistoric times it was usually erected over a burial. A barrow is sometimes called a cairn.

• catacombs cemeteries of the early Christians and contemporary Jews, arranged in extensive subterranean vaults and galleries. Besides serving as places of burial, the catacombs were used as hiding places...

• Chancay archaeological site in central Peru, center of the ancient Cuismancu empire. Culturally influenced by the Chimu , the Cuismancu dominated less territory and were not as powerful. Nonetheless they built...

• Chavín de Huántar archaeological site in the northeastern highlands of Peru, near the headwaters of the Marañon River. It flourished between c.900 BC and 200 BC The site features two monumental temples and...

• Chichén Itzá city of the ancient Maya , central Yucatán, Mexico. It was founded around two large cenotes, or natural wells. According to one system of dating, it was founded c.514, probably by the Itzá , and after being abandoned (692) and reoccupied (c.928) was chosen by Kulkulcán (see Quetzalcoatl ) as his capital sometime between 968 and 987. After being defeated by Mayapán in 1194, the Itzá abandoned the city for the last time. Spanning two great periods of Maya civilization, Chichén Itzá...

• Copán ruined city of the Maya , W Honduras, in a small river valley of the same name. Copán is noted for its fine sculptured stele and majestic architecture. The ruins were the site of extensive research and restoration from the...

• cromlech [Welsh or Breton,=crooked stone], term that has changed in meaning from its original equivalent to dolmen. It later came to be used for a single standing stone and now usually refers to a circle of such stones; however, the term is used in this sense for such remains on the Continent, e.g., Britanny...

• Cyclopean name often applied to a primitive method of prehistoric masonry construction, found throughout Greece, Italy, and the Middle East. The term is derived from Cyclopes, the mythological beings who...

• dating the determination of the age of an object, of a natural phenomenon, or of a series of events. There are two basic types of dating methods, relative and absolute. In relative dating, the temporal...

• dendrochronology see dating.

• dolmen [Breton,=stone table], burial chamber consisting of two or more upright stone slabs supporting a capstone or table, typical of the Neolithic period in Europe. See megalithic monuments.

• El Tajín ruins, Veracruz state, E central Mexico, representing the remains of a pre-Columbian city-state that flourished in AD 100-1200. The site was associated with an ethnic group called the Totonac, and...

• Golconda ruined city, Andhra Pradesh state, SE India. It was the capital (c.1364-1512) of the Bahmani kingdom, but after 1512 it became the capital of the Muslim sultanate of Golconda. The legions of...

• Herculaneum ancient city of S Italy, on the gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. Damaged by an earthquake in AD 63, it was completely buried, along with Pompeii , by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. Before the earthquake, it was a popular Roman resort and residential town with fine villas. The first discovery of ruins was made in 1709, and...

• hydria ancient Greek water jar with three handles—two lateral for lifting, a third vertical for pouring. In shape it was similar to the amphora, the early form having a narrower shoulder, while a later...

• Karakorum ruined city, central Republic of Mongolia, near the Orkhon River, SW of Ulaanbaatar. The area around Karakorum had been inhabited by nomadic Turkic tribes from the 1st cent. AD, but the city...

• Kensington Rune Stone much-disputed stone found (1898) on a farm near Kensington, Minn., SW of Alexandria. Inscribed on the stone in runes is an account of a party of Norse explorers, 14 days' journey from the sea, who camped nearby in 1362 and lost 10 of their men, presumably to Native Americans. Archaeological and philological...

• Kent's Cavern or Kent's Hole, limestone cave, Devonshire, SW England, near Torquay. The floor is composed of several strata, with remains indicating the prehistoric coexistence there of humans and now-extinct animals. The Rev...

• kitchen midden refuse heap left by a prehistoric settlement; more specifically, a deposit consisting primarily of discarded shell and related cultural material in coastal environments. First studied (1848) in...

• La Tène ancient Celtic site on Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, that gives its name to the second and final period of the European Iron Age. It is characterized by an art style that drew upon Greek, Etruscan, and Scythian motifs and translated them into highly abstract designs in metal, pottery, and wood. The earliest phase of Tenian...

• Machu Picchu Inca site in Peru, about 50 mi (80 km) NW of Cuzco. It is perched high upon a rock in a narrow saddle between two sharp mountain peaks and overlooks the Urubamba River 2,000 ft (600 m) below. Ignored...

• Maeshowe or Maes Howe , prehistoric monument, on Pomona in the Orkney Islands, off N Scotland, near Stenness. A passage grave with a corbeled vault, it measures 115 ft (35 m) in diameter and 23 ft (7 m) high. It dates to...

• Maiden Castle prehistoric fortress, Dorset, S England, near Dorchester. The finest earthwork in the British Isles, c.120 acres (50 hectares) in area, is there. Two sets of large-scale excavations at this site...

• Masada ancient mountaintop fortress in Israel, the final outpost of the Zealot Jews in their rebellion against Roman authority (AD 66-73). Located in the Judaean Desert, the fortress sits atop a...

• megalithic monument [Gr.,=large stone], in archaeology, a construction involving one or several roughly hewn stone slabs of great size; it is usually of prehistoric antiquity. These monuments are found in various...

• menhir [Breton,=long stone], in archaeology, name given to the single standing stones of Western Europe, and by extension to those of other lands. Their size varies and their shape is rough and squared,...

• Moabite stone ancient slab of stone erected in850 BC by King Mesha of Moab; it contains a long inscription commemorating a victory in his revolt against Israel. It was discovered at Dibon, Jordan (1868), by F. A. Klein, a German clergyman. Although it was later...

• mound prehistoric earthwork erected over a burial place as a memorial or landmark, a defensive embankment, or a site for ceremonial or religious rites. Such structures are found in many parts of the...

• Mound Builders in North American archaeology, name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mts. The...

• necropolis see cemetery.

• Oraibi pueblo, N Ariz., on a mesa N of Winslow. It was built c.1150 and was discovered in 1540 by Pedro de Tovar, a lieutenant of Coronado. The mission of San Francisco, established on the site in 1629,...

• Pachacamac ruins of a walled Native American settlement, Peru, about 25 mi (40 km) SE of Lima in the Lurin Valley. This site, which contains a number of pyramids, was considered one of the most important...

• Pagan ruined city, Mandalay div., central Myanmar, on the Ayeyarwady River. Covering an area c.40 sq mi (100 sq km), it is one of the great archaeological treasures of Southeast Asia and a holy place of...

• Palenque ancient city of the Maya in Chiapas, S Mexico, in the Usumacinta Valley. Its architectural elegance, adapted to tropical and topographical conditions, was a high point in the art of the Classic period. Stucco sculpturing...

• Petra ancient rock city, in present-day Jordan, known to the Arabs as Wadi Musa for the stream that flows through it. A narrow, winding pass between towering walls leads to the open plain upon which...

• Piedras Negras [Span.,=black stones], ruined city of the Classic era of the Maya , NW Petén, Guatemala, in the Usumacinta valley. Reaching a peak of sculptural achievement (according to one dating system, between 731 and 795), Piedras Negras developed some of the finest...

• Pompeii ancient city of S Italy, a port near Naples and at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. Possibly an old Oscan settlement, it was a Samnite city for centuries before it passed under Roman rule at the time of...

• 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...

• radioactive dating see dating.

• rath circular hill fort protected by earthworks, used by the ancient Irish in the pre-Christian era as a retreat in time of danger. Some of the larger raths, such as that at Tara , were important in early...

• Sentinum ancient town of Umbria, E central Italy, near the modern town of Sassoferrato. In 295 BC the Romans (led by Publius Decius Mus) defeated the Gauls and the Samnites there. It was the most important...

• shell mound in archaeology, a mound consisting largely of the shells of edible mollusks. It is a kind of kitchen midden found in various parts of the world.

• Skara Brae Stone Age village, on Mainland in the Orkney Islands , N Scotland. Dating from c.3200 to 2200 BC, the village was preserved under a sand dune until uncovered by a storm in 1851. It contains seven underground chambers furnished with stone dressers,...

• standing stones see megalithic monuments.

• Stonehenge group of standing stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, S England. Preeminent among megalithic monuments in the British Isles, it is similar to an older and larger monument at Avebury. The great prehistoric structure is enclosed within a circular ditch 300 ft (91 m) in diameter, with a bank on the inner side, and is approached by a broad roadway called the Avenue. Within the...

• Sutton Hoo archaeological site near Woodbridge, East Suffolk, E England, containing 11 barrows. Excavations here in 1938-39 revealed remains of a Saxon ship (c.660), which with its gold and silver treasures...

• Taxila archaeological site of three successive cities, near Rawalpindi, Pakistan. There between the 7th cent. BC and the 7th cent. AD was a flourishing city, famous as an ancient seat of learning. It was...

• Tepe Gawra [Kurdish,=great mound], locality in N Iraq, 15 mi (24 km) NE of Mosul. In 1927 the archaeologist Ephraim Speiser discovered it to be the site of ancient settlements. In all, 24 levels and sublevels...

• Tikal ruined city of the Classic Period of the Maya , N central Petén, Guatemala. The largest and possibly the oldest of the Maya cities, Tikal consists of nine groups of courts and plazas built on hilly land above surrounding swamps (which may have...

• tumulus plural tumuli , in archaeology, a heap of earth or stones placed over a grave. The terms mound , barrow , or cairn are more common in modern usage.

• Uaxactún see Maya.

• Uxmal ancient city, northern Yucatán peninsula, Mexico. A Late Classic period Maya center situated in the Puuc hills, Uxmal flourished between 600 and 900. It is one of the finest expressions of Maya architecture known as the Puuc style. The site has such impressive structures as...

• Zimbabwe [Bantu,=stone houses], ruined city, SE Zimbabwe, near Fort Victoria. It was discovered by European explorers c.1870, and some believed it the biblical Ophir, where King Solomon had his mines. From...