Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (647 page)

 
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The study of the ways in which non-linguistic phenomena can generate meaning. In archaeology this is especially important because of its focus on material culture which is well known as a means of simultaneously carrying a wide range of meanings.

 
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A general term that applies to a group of related languages rather than a set of recognizable communities. Semitic languages are characterized by the importance of consonants where three are typically used to form the root of a word. Arabic and Hebrew are the two most significant surviving Semitic languages.

 
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King of Assyria between approximately 704 bc and 681 bc. In 689 bc he conquered
BABYLON
, but much of his military power was devoted to maintaining his kingdom. One of his main achievements was the construction of an enlarged palace at
NINEVEH
.

 
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A stone slab set on edge to form a raised kerb between compartments within the chambers of Neolithic long barrows. Some especially large septal slabs have circular holes cut in them, known as
‘PORTHOLES’
, to allow access between compartments.

 
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Roman emperor ad 193–211.

 
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A method developed by Sir
FLINDERS PETRIE
to provide a relative chronology for predynastic Egyptian ceramics but later applied more widely. The basic idea was to create a sequence of pottery types based on a typology of form correlated with stratigraphic relationships. Stages in the sequence were assigned numbers, ‘sequence dates’, so that when similar pottery was found at another site it could be correlated with the sequence and assigned a sequence date.