Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (408 page)

A doctrine about population dynamics developed by Revd. Thomas Malthus , according to which population increase comes up against ‘natural limits’ which trigger famine and war and have the effect of reducing overall population levels.

 
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A large well-ventilated room where barley grain could be spread out in order to sprout before being used to made beer. In some cases underfloor heating is provided to hasten the process. See also
CORN DRIER
.

 
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A pottery industry based around the Malvern Hills in west central England. The earliest production dates to the middle Bronze Age, but from the mid 1st millennium
bc
onwards the industry produced a range of very coarse, handmade, simple jars. They were distributed over considerable distances, particularly in the Marches, South Wales, and Gloucestershire.

 
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A distinct religious building within larger temple sites and cult centres of the Graeco-Roman period in Egypt which is connected with the mythological birth of the god to whom the temple or sanctuary is dedicated.

 
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A type of elephant (Mammuthus (Elephas) primigenius) now extinct but widespread throughout middle and higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere during the Pleistocene and early Holocene. Distinguished by its long hair, thick woolly under-fur, and long tusks which curved upwards and outwards, mammoth were probably the largest animals hunted by Palaeolithic (including Palaeo-Indian) hunters, although exactly how they were captured and killed is not known. The woolly mammoth became extinct
c.
10000 bc.

 
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Style of pottery made in Lowland Maya villages in late Formative (late Pre-Classic) times, characteristically monochrome with a waxy feel to the surface, made in a limited range of styles, but most commonly as flat-bottomed bowls.

 
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