Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (566 page)

A bronze alloy with high tin content.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Type of British or Gaulish coin made from
POTIN
from the early 1st century
bc
onwards. Potin coins are unusual in that they are cast rather than struck. The earliest examples are the first kinds of coin made in Britain and are found mostly in southeastern counties. Derek Allen has traced the origins of the potin coin series back to the bronze coinage of Massalia some time in the 2nd century
bc
, the prototypes for the British series probably coming via Gaul. Also called Kentish cast bronze coins.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A ceremonial feast in which the conspicuous consumption of food played a major part. Practised among coastal communities on the northwest coast of North America from perhaps 3500 bc down to historic times, the potlatch was in effect a redistribution system for large accumulated surpluses of foodstuffs in which a few wealthy and powerful individuals controlled the redistribution as a way of gaining prestige.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A kind of thermal fracturing that naturally detaches flint flakes from parent blocks. Pot-lids are small rounded flakes, sometimes with traces of rippling on the ventral surface; a rounded pit is the negative impression left on the parent block by the detachment of the flake.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A fragment of a clay vessel. See also
SHARD
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A small block that the potter impresses into the base of a vessel he/she has made while still soft in order to give it a personalized mark. Some potter's stamps give the potter's name in the Latin or Greek alphabet; other stamps are so-called ‘illiterate’ and comprise only lines and signs. Especially common on
SAMIAN
,
ARRETINE
, and
GALLO-BELGIC
wares.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search