Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (325 page)

BOOK: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
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hydria
[Ar].
Greek three-handled pitcher for containing water. Typically these vessels have a low pedestal base, cylindrical neck, and the handles are mounted horizontally on the shoulder and vertically between shoulder and rim.
Hyksos
[CP].
The name given by the Egyptians to warrior groups who infiltrated Egypt at the end of the Middle Kingdom to dominate the Nile Valley in the second intermediate period between 1640 and 1570 bc and to form the 15th Dynasty. Their capital was at Avaris in the Nile Delta. Their expulsion in
c.
1567 bc under Amosis , the founder of the 18th Dynasty, heralded the start of the New Kingdom in Egypt. The Hyksos are not easily recognized in the archaeological record, although in Palestine they seem to have built defensive ramparts faced with smooth hard plaster. They seem to have been ruled by a military aristocracy and were responsible for the introduction of the horse and chariot to Egypt, and perhaps also the upright loom, the olive and the pomegranate.
hypocaust system
[MC].
Roman central heating system, incorporating either a low basement chamber over which a fireproof floor was supported on small pillars, or a system of underfloor channels. Both systems provided for the circulation of warm air from an external furnace, with the air finally escaping through flues of
BOX TILE
embedded in the walls.
hypogeum
[MC].
A kind of rock-cut chambered tomb with a series of interlinking cells or rooms, mainly used for inhumation burial.
hypothesis
[Ge].
A statement of plausible connections between specific defined elements or variables, put forward as a basis for empirical testing. In archaeology this usually means putting forward a set of ideas or predictions about how the archaeological record should look if a particular model or explanation holds true.
hypothetico-deductive reasoning
[Th].
A critical element of the
NEW ARCHAEOLOGY
of the late 1960s and 1970s which allowed the translation of the
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
into archaeological work. Under its rubric, a
HYPOTHESIS
is set up, predictions are deduced from the hypothesis, and these are then tested against empirically derived data.

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