Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (523 page)

A body of sedimentary material, usually dark brown or black in colour, comprising the partially decomposed remains of plants and organic matter that is preserved in anaerobic conditions within an essentially waterlogged environment. Peat deposits provide important sources of
PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL
materials, especially macrobotanical remains, pollen, beetles, gastropods, and sometimes human and animal remains too. Peat can be radiocarbon dated. It is also cut and dried as a source of fuel.

 
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1
A small rounded block of stone that has usually been smoothed and shaped by water action.
2
A size subdivision of sediment components which ranges between 4mm and 64mm in diameter on the Wentworth–Udden system.

 
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Early and technologically speaking most primitive kinds of tool comprising a natural nodule or pebble that has been modified by striking off a few flakes to produce an irregular working edge. The earliest known examples date to around 2.6 million years ago and are associated with
AUSTRALOPITHECUS
.

 
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See
BADEN CULTURE
.

 
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A method of shaping the surface of natural stones to fashion tools, modify the form of the stone, or create patterns or designs of various sorts. It involves hitting the surface of the stone to be fashioned in a controlled way using a harder stone of appropriate size (a hammerstone), thereby crushing the surface of softer stone to a powder and so removing small portions at each blow.

 
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A cultural sequence for prehistoric material from the southwestern parts of North America devised in 1927 at the first Pecos Conference. Eight stages in the sequence were identified:
BASKETMAKER
I–III and
PUEBLO
I–V. Architecture and ceramics provide the basic elements in defining the stages.

 
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