Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (706 page)

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Authors: Timothy Darvill

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symbolic interactionism
[Th].
A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbert Mead , which places strong emphasis on the role of symbols and language as core elements of all human interaction.
symbolkeramik
[Ar].
Type of Copper Age ceramic found in southern Spain. Characterized by incised stylized designs believed to have had symbolic meaning, as with the
OCULUS
motif.
symbol stone
[MC].
Type of
PICTISH
monument found in Scotland in the form of roughly shaped pillars or boulders depicting animals and/or geometric patterns and objects. They date to between the 5th and 7th centuries
ad
and are clearly not Christian in their inspiration.
symposium
[Ge].
A male drinking session traditionally held at the end of a Greek meal during classical times. Scenes of the symposium frequently appear as decoration on Greek pottery showing that the range of activities included not only drinking but also music, singing, dancing, games, and sexual intercourse.
synchronic
[De].
Being of a single time or of limited time depth; non-historical.
DIACHRONIC
.
syncretism
[De].
The fusion of two or more systems of belief and ritual.
synostosis
[Ge].
The fusion of separate pieces of bone in human skeletons. The timing of this process in different bones is an important indicator of age. For example, the distal epiphyses of the radius has fused by about 20 years, the proximal epiphyses of the fibula by about 25 years.

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