Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (239 page)

Term used by Caesar to describe a sector of Celtic society who were presumably horse-warriors or horse-riding soldiers of some kind.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Heavy bronze flange-hilted sword with a leaf-shaped blade for slashing rather than thrusting. Originating in the early
URNFIELD TRADITIONS
of central Europe, examples were exported to surrounding areas, some arriving in Britain, for example, in the Penard Phase of the later Bronze Age, the 12th century
bc
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Egyptian god. See
RENENUTET
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Late Mesolithic communities of the west Baltic coastal regions, named after a series of massive shell middens at Ertebølle, Jutland, Denmark, dated to
c.
3900–3250 bc. The later phases of the culture are marked by the appearance of pottery, especially large S-shaped pointed-base jars, and ground stone implements, both the result of contacts with farming communities to the south.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Small metal ornamental plate or badge forming an emblem or cover plate attached to a larger object or structure.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A widely used but increasingly obsolete general term for the aboriginal peoples of the Arctic regions of North America. A French transliteration of an Algonquin word meaning ‘raw-fish eaters’. The people themselves use the term ‘Inuit’ to describe themselves and this is preferred.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

The idea that there are certain attitudes or emotions that are biologically inherent to human beings in general or to males or females differently. Essentialist claims are often backed up with biological arguments, and are in some cases derived from sociobiology or humanism. Essentialist views, not all supportable, abound in archaeology: the most common is that males go hunting because of their killer urges while females gather plant produce.