This page is a glossary of archaeology , the study of the human past from material remains.
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In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be conducted over a few weeks to several years.
Paleoethnobotany, or archaeobotany, is the study of past human-plant interactions through the recovery and analysis of ancient plant remains. Both terms are synonymous, though paleoethnobotany is generally used in North America and acknowledges the contribution that ethnographic studies have made towards our current understanding of ancient plant exploitation practices, while the term archaeobotany is preferred in Europe and emphasizes the discipline's role within archaeology.
An artifact or artefact is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest. In archaeology, the word has become a term of particular nuance and is defined as an object recovered by archaeological endeavor, which may be a cultural artifact having cultural interest.
Hoabinhian is a lithic techno-complex of archaeological sites associated with assemblages in Southeast Asia from late Pleistocene to Holocene, dated to c. 10,000–2000 BCE. It is attributed to hunter-gatherer societies of the region and their technological variability over time is poorly understood. In 2016 a rockshelter was identified in Yunnan (China), where artifacts belonging to the Hoabinhian technocomplex were recognized. These artifacts date from 41,500 BCE.
In archaeology, seriation is a relative dating method in which assemblages or artifacts from numerous sites in the same culture are placed in chronological order. Where absolute dating methods, such as radio carbon, cannot be applied, archaeologists have to use relative dating methods to date archaeological finds and features. Seriation is a standard method of dating in archaeology. It can be used to date stone tools, pottery fragments, and other artifacts. In Europe, it has been used frequently to reconstruct the chronological sequence of graves in a cemetery.
Post-excavation analysis constitutes processes that are used to study archaeological materials after an excavation is completed. Since the advent of "New Archaeology" in the 1960s, the use of scientific techniques in archaeology has grown in importance. This trend is directly reflected in the increasing application of the scientific method to post-excavation analysis. The first step in post-excavation analysis should be to determine what one is trying to find out and what techniques can be used to provide answers. Techniques chosen will ultimately depend on what type of artifact(s) one wishes to study. This article outlines processes for analyzing different artifact classes and describes popular techniques used to analyze each class of artifact. Keep in mind that archaeologists frequently alter or add techniques in the process of analysis as observations can alter original research questions.
Konar Sandal is a Bronze Age archaeological site, situated in the valley of the Halil River just south of Jiroft, Kermān Province, Iran.
Brahmagiri is an archaeological site located in the Chitradurga district of the state of Karnataka, India. Legend has it that this is the site where sage Gautama Maharishi and his wife Ahalya lived. He was one among seven noted Hindu saints. This site was first explored by Benjamin L. Rice in 1891, who discovered rock edicts of Emperor Ashoka here. These rock edicts indicated that the locality was termed as Isila and denoted the southernmost extent of the Mauryan empire. The Brahmagiri site is a granite outcrop elevated about 180 m. above the surrounding plains and measures around 500 m east-west and 100 m north-south. It is well known for the large number of megalithic monuments that have been found here. The earliest settlement found here has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BC.
Tenta, also referred to as Kalavasos-Tenta or Tenda, is an Aceramic Neolithic settlement located in modern Kalavasos near the southern coast of Cyprus. The settlement is approximately 38 kilometres southwest of Larnaca and approximately 45 kilometres south of Nicosia. Tenta occupies a small natural hill on the west side of the Vasilikos valley, close to the Nicosia–Limassol highway.
The Russian geoglyph refers to a geoglyph on slopes of the Zyuratkul Mountains in the Chelyabinsk region in Russia.
Tall Jawa is an archaeological and historical site in central Jordan.
The Mladečské Caves are a cave complex in the municipality of Mladeč in the Czech Republic. It is located in the Třesín National Nature Monument within the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area.
Dewil Valley, located in the northernmost part of Palawan, an island province of the Philippines that is located in the Mimaropa region, is an archaeological site composed of thousands of artifacts and features. According to the University of the Philippines Archaeological Studies Program, or UP-ASP, the closest settlement can be found in New Ibajay, which is covered by the town capital of El Nido, which is located around 9 km (5.6 mi) south-east of Dewil Valley. Physically it measures around 7 km (4.3 mi) long, and 4 km (2.5 mi) wide. It is in this place which the Ille Cave, one of the main archaeological sites, can be found. It is actually a network of 3 cave mouths located at its base. It has been discovered that this site in particular has been used and occupied by humans over multiple time periods.
Munsa is an archaeological site in Uganda, located in the south-eastern part of Bunyoro, and is commonly recognized by a rocky hill known by the locals as "Bikegete", which is enclosed within an earthworks system of ancient ditches. The site is approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-west of Kakumiro township in Bugangaizi County, Kakumiro District. "Munsa" is a Runyoro(Lunyoro/Runyoro Edited by Nicholas Aliganyira Nkuuna) name that means "in the trenches". The architects of the earthworks are unknown, although it has been speculated that the site can be linked to the Bachwezi. There is no evidence for this, however, and it seems likely that association of Munsa with the Bachwezi or Chwezi is a recent development.
Chronological dating, or simply dating, is the process of attributing to an object or event a date in the past, allowing such object or event to be located in a previously established chronology. This usually requires what is commonly known as a "dating method". Several dating methods exist, depending on different criteria and techniques, and some very well known examples of disciplines using such techniques are, for example, history, archaeology, geology, paleontology, astronomy and even forensic science, since in the latter it is sometimes necessary to investigate the moment in the past during which the death of a cadaver occurred. These methods are typically identified as absolute, which involves a specified date or date range, or relative, which refers to dating which places artifacts or events on a timeline relative to other events and/or artifacts. Other markers can help place an artifact or event in a chronology, such as nearby writings and stratigraphic markers.
Aigyr-Zhal 2 is a historical site in Naryn city on the territory of University of Central Asia (UCA), Kyrgyzstan. It is a part of a bigger and more complex site Aigyr-Zhal. It is dated between Mesolithic time and Middle Ages. Aigyr-Zhal is the only site in the Tian-Shan that has evidence of human occupation from Mesolithic time till the Turkic period . It was first was discovered in 1953 by Akhmat Kibirov. However, during the Soviet time the site was partially destroyed, therefore it was impossible to research the site for a long time. Only in 2012 it was first researched by Kubat Tabaldiev's archaeological team. The length of Aigyr-Zhal 2 is 300 metres, while the width is 100 metres, and the heigh of the site is 2026 metres above the sea level. Since 2002 the whole Aigyr-Zhal complex is in the list of National importance of Kyrgyzstan.
AE Harmon is an archaeological site that was in use during the Archaic, Late Woodland, Emergent Mississippian, and Mississippian periods, according to the most recent archaeological evidence. This site is located near the American Bottom in modern-day Edwardsville, Illinois. There were a total of three recorded excavations; one took place during the 1990s by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Contract Archaeology Program (CAP) and the two others took place during the early 2000s. A number of features were excavated, uncovering various different artifacts, plant remains and providing evidence for during which the site was in use. With all the data gained, it was predicted that AE Harmon was a horticultural environment.
Barkhale Camp is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, an archaeological site on Bignor Hill, on the South Downs in West Sussex, England. Causewayed enclosures were built in England from shortly before 3700 BC until at least 3500 BC; they are characterized by the full or partial enclosure of an area with ditches that are interrupted by gaps, or causeways. Their purpose is not known; they may have been settlements, meeting places, or ritual sites. The Barkhale Camp enclosure was first identified in 1929, by John Ryle, and was surveyed the following year by E. Cecil Curwen, who listed it as a possible Neolithic site in a 1930 paper which was the first attempt to list all the causewayed enclosures in England.
The Toalean people were hunter-gatherers who inhabited the Indonesian island of Sulawesi during the Mid- to Late-Holocene period prior to the spread of Austronesian Neolithic farmers some 3,500 years ago from mainland Asia.
The Mlambalasi Rock Shelter is a historic site located in Iringa District of Iringa Region in southern Tanzania, 50 km away from Iringa City. Excavations in 2006 and 2010 by the Iringa Region Archaeological Project uncovered artifactual deposits from the Later Stone Age (LSA), the Iron Age, and the historic periods, as well as external artifacts from the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Direct dating on Achatina shell and ostrich eggshell beads indicates that the oldest human burials at Mlambalasi are from the terminal Pleistocene. Mlambalasi is characterized by interment in the LSA and Iron Age periods, as well as by cycles of use and abandonment.
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