Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (391 page)

Wooden beam or stone slab lying horizontally above a doorway or window opening in order to discharge the weight of the structure above.

 
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Instrument for the measurement of carbon-14 in ancient samples which works by recording the disintegration rate of the remaining
¹⁴
C over a period of time, normally using liquid benzene prepared from sample carbon. See also
RADIOCARBON DATING
.

 
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Type of bronze weapon rather like a rapier, with a straight-sided blade and notched butt for attachment to the hilt. Dating to the
PENARD PHASE
of the middle to late Bronze Age and found mainly in Ireland.

 
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The earliest of five general cultural stages proposed by G. Willey and P. Phillips in 1958 as a framework for the study of ancient communities in the Americas. The Lithic embraced the whole New World and referred to the earliest, essentially Pleistocene, cultural manifestations. The term is now obsolete as more regionally specific traditions have been defined, for example the Palaeo-Indians, or Arctic Tradition of North America.

 
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General term applied to all collections of stone tools, working debris, and raw materials recovered during an archaeological project.

 
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A battlefield on the north side of the Little Bighorn River now known as Custer Ridge. In June 1976 the US Seventh Cavalry was defeated by a large force of Cheyenne and Sioux Indians there. The cavalry force was led by Lt. Col. Custer. The battle lasted less than an hour and left 210 men of the US cavalry dead. Recent archaeological investigations have attempted to reconstruct the progress of the battle from the distribution of spent cartridge shells from the Springfield carbines and Colt revolvers used by the US cavalry.
[Rep.: R. A. Fox Jr, 1993,
Archaeology, history and Custer's last battle: the Little Big Horn reexamined
. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press]

 
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