Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (263 page)

A term used by Marx to refer to the factors promoting economic growth in a society.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A convenient accessible place along a river or stream where in normal conditions the water is sufficiently shallow for people and animals to walk across in safety. In some cases a ford was created by artificially raising the riverbed through the construction of a causeway or weir.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

An expanding branch of archaeological investigation in which the methods and approaches of archaeology are applied to legal problems and in connection with the work of courts of law. Most commonly this involves the reconstruction of a chronology and sequence of events from the deposits found within and around graves and burial sites for homicide cases and investigations into the violation of human rights.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

In medieval times land on which the king and a few other major lords had the right to keep deer and other game and could make Forest Laws to protect them. Thus, a forest was not necessarily a place of trees but rather a place of deer and game for hunting and sport.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

In metalworking, the shaping of a piece of metal by heating, to soften it, and then hammering.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

The physical characteristics—size, shape, composition, etc.—of any archaeological find. Form is an essential part of attribute analysis.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

The process of describing the overall shape of an item as objectively as possible and with as much detail as possible.