Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (511 page)
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Authors: Timothy Darvill
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palaestra
[MC].
[MC].
1
A Roman building smaller than a gymnasium, often built as a colonnade round a central court, for the training of boxers, wrestlers, and participants in gymnastic contests.
2
Exercise hall of a Roman public bath-house where patrons might amuse themselves with games and sports or work up a sweat before bathing.
A Roman building smaller than a gymnasium, often built as a colonnade round a central court, for the training of boxers, wrestlers, and participants in gymnastic contests.
2
Exercise hall of a Roman public bath-house where patrons might amuse themselves with games and sports or work up a sweat before bathing.
palafitta
[MC].
[MC].
Palaikastro, Crete
[Si].
[Si].
A substantial Minoan settlement and port on the extreme eastern side of Crete. Extensively excavated by J. MacGillivray and colleagues in the 1980s and 1990s, the settlement is dominated by its elegant main street flanked on either side with prosperous town houses. Other blocks of large and airy houses lay nearby. The wealth of the town derived from the excellent agricultural land round about and is clearly visible in the architecture and the design of the wide streets with drains running along them. Surprisingly, no palace has ever been identified at the site.
[Sum.: J. A. MacGillivray
et al
., 1991, Excavations at Palaikastro, 1990.
Papers of the British School at Athens
, 86, 121–47]
[Sum.: J. A. MacGillivray
et al
., 1991, Excavations at Palaikastro, 1990.
Papers of the British School at Athens
, 86, 121–47]
pale
[Co].
[Co].
Boundary fence, especially of a park, usually comprising a stout wooden fence or hedge set on a low bank with a ditch in the inside.
Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
[Si].
[Si].
A Maya ceremonial centre and settlement on the edge of the Chiapas Mountains. This site is the most westerly such centre and reached its height in the late Classic as Teotihuacán was declining.
Those constructing the numerous temples and structures on the site took little regard of the local topography. In the centre is a palace complex with a unique four-storey tower. The palace is linked via a subterranean vaulted passage or aqueduct to the eastern terraces on which stand the temples of the Foliated Cross, the Cross, and the Sun. Palenque was abandoned after ad 810.
Excavations by Alberto Ruz in 1949–52) in the Temple of the Inscriptions revealed the burial of
PACAL
, ruler of Palenque from ad 615 to 682. Pacal's skeleton lay in a single-piece stone sarcophagus covered with a slab of limestone 3.8m long. A jade mosaic mask, ear spools, a necklace, rings and numerous other ornaments had been placed with the body. Two jade figurines lay beside Pacal, one representing the sun god. Red cinnabar had been sprinkled over the body and grave goods.
[Sum.: L. Ruz , 1953, The pyramid tomb of a prince of Palenque.
Illustrated London News
, 223, 321–3]
Those constructing the numerous temples and structures on the site took little regard of the local topography. In the centre is a palace complex with a unique four-storey tower. The palace is linked via a subterranean vaulted passage or aqueduct to the eastern terraces on which stand the temples of the Foliated Cross, the Cross, and the Sun. Palenque was abandoned after ad 810.
Excavations by Alberto Ruz in 1949–52) in the Temple of the Inscriptions revealed the burial of
PACAL
, ruler of Palenque from ad 615 to 682. Pacal's skeleton lay in a single-piece stone sarcophagus covered with a slab of limestone 3.8m long. A jade mosaic mask, ear spools, a necklace, rings and numerous other ornaments had been placed with the body. Two jade figurines lay beside Pacal, one representing the sun god. Red cinnabar had been sprinkled over the body and grave goods.
[Sum.: L. Ruz , 1953, The pyramid tomb of a prince of Palenque.
Illustrated London News
, 223, 321–3]
paleo-
[Ge].
[Ge].
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