Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (419 page)

A type of musket developed in the 15th century
ad
which used an attached burning taper to light the gunpowder.

 
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A type of middle Neolithic pottery found at many sites in southern Italy, notably the ditched villages of Murgecchia and Murgia Timone. Characteristically a dark burnished fabric represented as curved bowls and straight-necked jars, decorated with rectilinear geometric designs scratched into the walls after firing and filled with an inlay of red ochre. A quite different ware comprising a thin, buff-coloured pottery painted with broad bands of scarlet, is sometimes included within the range of Matera ware products.

 
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A term used to describe the objects produced by human beings, including buildings, structures, monuments, tools, weapons, utensils, furniture, art, and indeed any physical item created by a society. As such, material culture is the main source of information about the past from which archaeologists can make inferences. A distinction is often made between those aspects of
CULTURE
that appear as physical objects and those aspects that are non-material.

 
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The view developed by Marx , according to which ‘material’ or economic factors have a prime role in determining historical change.

 
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Family authority resting with the woman's family. Thus
matriarchy
, rule by women.

 
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The inheritance of property or titles through the female line only. Also known as matriliny or matrilineality.

 
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