Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (206 page)

A group of deposits representing a geostratigraphic stage within the
PLEISTOCENE
series of the British
QUATERNARY
system, dating to the period betwen 120000 and 10000 years ago. The Devensian is interpreted as the last full glacial series within the Pleistocene, with deposits being stratified above
IPSWICHIAN
interglacial deposits and below
FLANDRIAN
series deposits of the
HOLOCENE
. The Devensian is equated with the Weichselian glacial maximum in northwest Europe. The Alpine equivalent is the
WÜRM
(although the equivalence is not exact); the North American equivalent the Wisconsin. The later part of the Devensian embraces
POLLEN ZONES I–III
as defined by Godwin in 1940, and the
DRYAS
climatic phases.

 
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Term used to describe the late Bronze Age communities of southern England after type-site burial monuments at Deverel and Rimbury in Dorset. The culture is characterized by globular, barrel-shaped, and bucket-shaped ceramic urns, extensive field systems, and settlements with round houses. Burials are usually cremations placed in urns or in simple pits dug into the ground, and typically cluster around earlier round barrows. Metalwork dates the culture to the period between 1400 bc and 1200 bc.

 
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A specially constructed pond with a water-tight lining of puddled clay mixed with straw. These ponds were built to maintain a supply of water on permeable rocks such as chalk or limestone.

 
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Pertaining to events or phenomena as they change or exist over time.

 
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A plain or decorated headband of man-made or natural materials.

 
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A broad cultural grouping of the Andes region of South America dating to the period ad 900–1600. Two main subdivisions are recognized on the basis of ceramic styles: the Argentinian on the east side of the Andes and the Chilean to the west.The Argentinian Diaguita succeeds the Aguada Culture and is recognized by pottery decorated with stylized motifs of reptiles, birds, and humans. Polychrome decorated funerary urns are found associated with the burial of children, adults being interred in stone-lined pits.Chilian Diaguita is characterized by delicately decorated ceramics with duck-shaped vessels and bird effigy jars. Both groups share many traits such as funerary practices, the use of bronze, petroglyphs, and possibly their language, although the extent of interaction is not known.

 
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