Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (721 page)

Roman mass-produced pottery with a range of forms but characterized by its glossy red glaze-like slip. It was mould-made in both plain and decorated forms. Vessels usually bear the name stamp of individual potters or workshops. Two principal types are recognized:
Arretine
produced at Arezzo in northern Italy between 30 bc and ad 50; and
Samian
produced in several areas of Gaul from ad 20 through to the late 2nd century
ad
. The main centres for the production of Samian were La Graufesenque, Lezoux, and Lyon. Samian ware was classified by H. Dragendorff in 1895–6 and is still referred to by its Drag. number. Both Arretine and Samian were exported throughout the western Roman empire on a vast scale and can be a very accurate chronological indicator. Derivative forms of
terra sigillata
include the late Roman Argonne and Marne wares, African red slip ware, and eastern red wares.

 
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Metal loop or ring, one of a set serving as rein guides on a horse-drawn vehicle.

 
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A kind of
OPPIDUM
found in southern Britain that dates to the late 1st century
bc
and early 1st century
ad
comprising a collection of farmsteads, field systems, and semi-urbanized nucleated settlements of various sorts scattered across a large area of ground, typically between 30 and 90 square kilometres, bounded by a series of substantial earthworks known as dykes. The dykes are usually discontinuous and sometimes have a strong rectilinear aspect. The boundaries often complement or supplement natural features such as escarpments, rivers, or bogs. The precise role and function of territorial
oppida
are matters of debate, but the most widely accepted interpretation is that they were tribal capitals or major focal points for trade, industry, and commerce in immediately pre-Roman Iron Age Britain and represent the later stage in the progression from pre-urban settlements to a fully urban system.

 
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A major geochronological subdivision; the earliest of the two
PERIODS
forming the Cenozoic era (the other is the
QUATERNARY
), itself composed of five epochs: the Palaeocene (65–54 million years BP); the Eocene (54–38 million years BP); the Oligocene (38–26 million years ago); the Miocene (26–27 million years BP); and the Pliocene (7–2 million years BP). The last two of these epochs represent the period when early hominids developed as a recognizable species.

 
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Small cave (the name means ‘stone with an opening’) high in the west Himalayas south of Samarkand, where excavations directed by A. P. Okladnikov in 1938–9 brought to light the skeleton of a Neanderthal boy aged about 8. Dating to about 440000 years ago, the site shows evidence of careful ritual and ceremony in connection with the burial, as the horn cores of Siberian mountain goats had been driven into the ground around the grave pit. Five levels containing flint tools of
MOUSTERIAN
tradition were found in the cave, together with bones of wild sheep and goats.
[Sum.: H. L. Movius , 1953,
The Mousterian cave of Teshik-Tash, southeastern Uzbekistan, central Asia
. Cambridge MA: American School of Prehistoric Research, Peabody Museum]

 
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A floor surface comprising small cubes (
tesserae
) of stone, tile, or glass, either plain or patterned in various colours, set in mortar to form mosaic.