Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (572 page)

BOOK: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
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presbytery
[Co].
The part of the church reserved for the officiating priests, mainly comprising the choir and other eastern portions of the building.
pressure flaking
[De].
A method of stone-tool production in which small, narrow flakes or blades are removed from a core using pressure applied to it at the correct place, using the tip of an antler or a bone or wooden point. Pressure-removed flakes or blades show no obvious
BULB OF PERCUSSION
.
prestige
[De].
The respect accorded to an individual or group by virtue of their status.
primary burial
[De].
The first burial (inhumation or cremation) deposited before the construction of a covering barrow or monumental structure. See also
SECONDARY BURIAL
.
primary context
[De].
An archaeological layer or deposit that is undisturbed and thus contains well-associated artefacts.
primary fill
[De].
The first material to accumulate in the bottom of a pit or ditch after it has been constructed. In general such material comprises fine particulate deposits that result from the initial weathering of the sides and upper part of the feature together with any material deliberately thrown or placed in the bottom of it. Archaeologically it is generally accepted that any artefacts in the primary fill of a feature date to approximately the time of its construction or earlier.
Primary Neolithic
[CP].
The term used by Stuart Piggott in 1954 to describe the earliest Neolithic of the British Isles, represented by the Windmill Hill Culture which was thought to represent intrusive farming groups. Although the term is sometimes used to refer to early farming groups in other areas too, it is essentially obsolete. See also
SECONDARY NEOLITHIC
.

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