Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (309 page)

See
STRATIFIED SOCIETY
.

 
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From the Greek literally meaning ‘sacred signs’, the term is used to describe ancient Egyptian writing and also other scripts, for example Mayan, with pictographic or ideographic symbols.

 
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Higgs , Eric
(1908–76)
[Bi].

Distinguished British prehistorian, well known for his work on early farming and as the founder of the palaeoeconomic school of archaeology. Born in Shropshire, he did not take up archaeology until he was 47. Before that he took a degree in agricultural economics at London University before living for a while as a professional card player, construction worker, and hill farmer. In 1954 he entered the two-year postgraduate programme in archaeology at Cambridge and the combined influences of Charles McBurney and Grahame Clark got him hooked on archaeology. In 1956 he was appointed a research assistant in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge, becoming senior assistant in 1963 and assistant director of research in 1968. He remained in post until his death. Amongst his many field programmes was his work on Palaeolithic sites in the Epirus region of Greece between 1962 and 1967. Higgs wrote and edited many books, notably
Science in archaeology
edited with Don Brothwell (1963; revised 1969, London: Thames and Hudson ), and
The archaeology of early man
with John Coles (1969, London: Faber and Faber).
[Obit.:
The Times
, 28 September 1976]

 
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A large monumental stone cross typical of the later 1st millennium
ad
and early 2nd millennium
ad
in northwest Europe. They are generally free-standing, with a shaft that is square or nearly square in cross-section, standing on a base or plinth (socle), and frequently carved with decorative panels. Two types of cross-head have been recognized: free-armed, which characterizes the earlier (pre-Viking) crosses; and the ringed or infilled cross-head which characterizes the Viking and later examples. The role of these monuments varied from place to place. Some were cenotaphs, while others were meeting places with a role in the ritual geography of religious communities.

 
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A term popularized in archaeological circles in Britain by
CYRIL FOX
from the 1930s onwards to refer to the upland regions of the north and west of the British Isles that are characterized by rather different kinds of archaeology to those found in the south and east. This is partly a product of geography, but this, Fox argued, had an effect on the human populations who absorbed new ideas rather than allowed them to be imposed and where populations fused rather than experienced replacement. See also
LOWLAND ZONE
.

 
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Hildebrand , Bror Emil
(1806–84)
[Bi].

Swedish antiquarian who studied in Copenhagen as a pupil of Thomsen and in 1830 introduced the
THREE AGE SYSTEM
into Sweden through the classification of the archaeological collections at Lund and Stockholm. Hildebrand became King's Antiquary in 1837.
[Bio.: G. O. Montelius , 1915,
Bror Emil Hildebrand Minnesteckning
. Stockholm]

 
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