Bossed Bone Plaque

Objects of unknown function made of bone and carved with a row of adjacent round bosses; incised decoration may occur on the background and sometimes on the bosses themselves. Bossed bone plaques have been found in the eastern and central Mediterranean at Troy, Lerna, Altamura in southern Italy, ...

archaeologsEnglishTools, Artifacts

Boat Axe

A special type of stone battle-axe found in eastern Scandinavia in the late Neolithic, so named because it resembles a simple boat with upturned ends. The term ‘Boat-axe culture’ is sometimes used for the east Scandinavian variant of the single grave or corded ware culture in which these axes occur.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Tools, Weapons

Boat Axe

Blade

The basis of stone technology is the removal of pieces of flint or other stone by striking the parent nodule or core with a hammer. When the flakes removed are elongated so as to be at least twice as long as they are wide, they are called blades. A typical blade has parallel sides and regular sca...

archaeologsEnglishTools, Artifacts

Axe Factory

During the Neolithic period in Europe certain outcrops of fine-grained rock were exploited for the production of polished axes. Microscopic analysis of the rock allows the sources to be identified, as each type of rock has its own distinctive crystalline structure; this enables the trading networ...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Tools

Axe Factory

Arauquinoid

One of the ceramic series developed by Irving Rouse and José Cruxent to facilitate cultural comparison in the Venezuela/Antilles area. Characterized by soft-textured, grey-coloured vessels tempered with spicules of freshwater sponge, the series flourished in the Orinoco basin from c500 to cl500 a...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Ancient Pottery

Arauquinoid

Chokkomon

Japon arkeolojisinde, Kofun dönemi eserlerine kazınmış parçalanmış spiraller tasarımı.

archaeologsTurkishArtifacts

Parallel Flaking

A secondary flaking technique that is often found on the earliest projectile points and stone tools, usually performed on the blade faces, in which the removal of flakes was performed in such a manner to remove flakes of similar size, depth, length and direction to result in flake scars which are...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Parallel Flaking

Xanthian Marbles

Sculptures found at Xanthus, principal city of ancient Lycia (Turkey), now in British Museum. The most remarkable ruins of the city are these huge rock-cut pillar tombs. British archaeologist Sir Charles Fellows sent reliefs and sections of the tombs to the British Museum in the 19th century. The...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Xanthian Marbles

Bossed Bone Plaque

Protome

Decorative motif in the form of a human or animal head.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Architectural, Ancient Pottery

Protome

Chokkomon

In Japanese archaeology, a design of shattered spirals engraved on artifacts of the Kofun period.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Chokkomon

Proto-Maiolica

A type of tin-glazed wares made in Sicily and southern Italy from shortly before 1200 until the 15th century. The appearance of these wares coincided with the importation of tin-glazed pottery from North Africa, particularly the Maghreb. The jugs and bowls were usually painted with various animal...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery, Artifacts

Proto-Maiolica

Sherd

Any pottery fragment - piece of broken pot or other earthenware item - that has archaeological significance. They are an invaluable part of the archaeological record because they are well-preserved. The analysis of ceramic changes recorded in potsherds has become one of the primary techniques use...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery, Artifacts

Sherd

Depas

The Homeric term which Schliemann used to describe the two-handled cups which he found in the Early Bronze Age contexts at Troy.

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery, Artifacts

Depas

Scraper

A retouched flake tool with a thick working edge; a flake tool that has been sharpened on one edge and left blunt on other edges to allow grasping, probably used to scrape (dress) animal hides. It is called a side scraper (racloir) or end scraper (grattoir) depending on the sharpened edge; side s...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Scraper

Canopic Jar

An ancient Egyptian funerary ritual in which four covered vessels of wood, stone, pottery, or faience were used to hold the organs removed during mummification. The embalmed liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were placed in separate canopic jars. The jars or urns were then placed beside the mu...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery, Artifacts

Canopic Jar

Primary Flake

An unretouched flake of stone from which smaller flakes are removed during knapping. A flake with its dorsal aspect completely covered by cortex.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Primary Flake

Polypod Bowl

A bowl that stands on two, three, or four small legs - found especially in Middle American archaeology. The form was also popular among the southwestern groups of the Beaker folk and in related central European wares.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Ancient Pottery

Polypod Bowl

Costrel

A type of medieval pottery flask, of which the majority were made of leather and have not survived. Merovingian and Carolingian pottery costrels tend to be roughly round in shape, with a slight neck for a stopper. The best-known is the Zelzate costrel, made in the 'Badorf-type' industries of the ...

archaeologsEnglishTools, Artifacts

Costrel

Gallinazo

A pottery style and culture of the first phase of the Early Intermediate Period, flourishing c 200 BC-200 AD on the north central coast of Peru (Virú Valley). Together with the slightly earlier Salinar, the Gallinazo culture is seen as transitional from Chavin-associated groups, such as Cupisniqu...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Ancient Pottery

Gallinazo

Jellinge Style

An art style that takes its name from the Viking site at Jellinge. Much Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian art from the 9th century until the mid-11th century is characterized by animal ornament and zoomorphic motifs, which are usually disjointed, stylized, and abstract. This type of decoration was mos...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Ancient Pottery

Jellinge Style

Blade

Mouth

The special hole or opening on a container with a hollow inside.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Ancient Pottery

Mouth

Knapper

One who manufactures stone artifacts.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Knapper

Flaker

Any pressure-flaking tool, often made from bone or antler, used to detach flakes in stone material in knapping; an implement for flaking flint.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Flaker

Bann Flake

A term variously used by different authorities, but at its minimum it is simply a kind of leaf-shaped flake found widely amongst the later Mesolithic assemblages of Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, one component of the BANN CULTURE. More strictly, Peter Woodman defines them as large flakes h...

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts

Bann Flake

Butter Churn

A vessel used to produce butter from milk through agitation.

archaeologsEnglishArtifacts, Tools

Butter Churn

Awl

A small tool consisting of a thin, tapering, sharp-pointed blade of bone, flint, or metal used for piercing holes, making decorations, or in assisting basketweaving.

archaeologsEnglishTools, Artifacts