Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (230 page)

English queen from ad 1558, of the House of Tudor. Born ad 1533, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn . Died in ad 1603, aged 69, having reigned 44 years.

 
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Large, roughly triangular-shaped chipped stone points with concave, straight, or slightly concave bases. Two main forms are known: those with corner notches on the base and those with ‘ears’ on the base. Dated to the period 1300 bc to ad 700 among Desert Archaic Stage communities of the Great Basin and western interior of North America.

 
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Elliot Smith , Sir Grafton
(1871–1937)
[Bi].

Distinguished British anatomist who developed a general interest in the history of mankind. Following studies of Egyptian mummies he came to the view that the complicated process of mummification was only discovered once and that it must have spread out to all other parts of the world from Egypt. This led to his obsession with
DIFFUSIONISM
.
[Bio.:
Dictionary of National Biography
, 1931–46, 816–17]

 
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An episode in the vegetational sequence of many parts of the British Isles and other parts of northern Europe, as revealed by pollen diagrams relating to the period around 3000 bc. At the elm decline the relative abundance of this species decreased considerably, sometimes in isolation and sometimes as part of a general reduction in tree cover. Before the application of radiocarbon dating to pollen sequences this was thought to be a widespread and broadly synchronous event which, in the 1940s, J. Iversen linked to the impact of early farmers on the post-glacial forest maxima. It is now clear that this event post-dated the first impact of farming, that it was not quite as synchronous as first thought, and moreover that in some areas at least it was probably brought about by the ancient equivalent of Dutch Elm Disease.

 
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Large settlement site of the Mayan Lowlands dating to the late Formative (Pre-Classic) period. Construction began about 150 bc and the site was abandoned about ad 150. Covering over 16 square kilometres, the site consisted of two groups of monumental buildings about 1km apart, connected by a causeway which may have had an astronomical alignment. The western acropolis was enclosed by a stone wall on the south and east sides, and by steep slopes on the north and west. It contained buildings with civic and religious functions, and residences for the elite. The estimated population is 80000 at its prime.
[Rep.: R. T. Matheney , 1987, El Mirador: An early Maya metropolis uncovered.
National Geographic
, 172, 316–39]

 
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Second phase of settlement represented in the Tehuacán Valley of Mexico and dating to the period 7000–5000 bc. Characterized by numerous small camps and relatively few larger wet-season camps situated in the lush river valleys. Deer hunting was a major subsistence activity, especially during the dry season. Trapping small game and gathering seeds and cactus leaves also contributed to the diet. During this phase there is some evidence of steps being made towards agriculture: squash, amaranth, chilli pepper, and avocado may have been planted.

 
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