Descriptionary

chronology a time line of historical events in the order in which they happened.

cist a stone coffin, from the Neolithic period.

clovis point a fluted, leaf-shaped stone projectile point, used by Native Americans to kill large prey.

codex a handwritten manuscript, especially a Chris­tian or Mesoamerican one.

convergent evolution the principle that those from different lineages can develop similar characteristics as a response to environmental similarities.

Copper Age the beginning period of the Bronze Age, when copper and bronze were used in the manu­facture of tools and weapons.

coprolite fossilized feces.

core a sampling, often cylindrical, of a segment of soil, ice, tree wood, etc., analysed to find clues about climate, volcanic activity, forest fires, plant growth, and the like.

Cro-Magnon man a highly intelligent and advanced human ancestor with exceptional artistic and tool- making abilities, living from 10,000 to 40,000 years ago, and characterized by a broader face than that of a fully modern human.

cross-dating dating an archaeological site by using the established date and evidence of similarities from another site.

cuneiform pictographic writing, developed and used by the Sumerians around 3500 b.c.

curate to look after archaeological artifacts, as in a museum.

curator one who looks after an archaeological col­lection, as in a museum or a repository.

Darwinism from naturalist Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution or survival of the fittest.

debitage the waste products, particularly chips, left over from the making of stone tools.

dendrochronology the technique of determin­ing age by counting the growth rings on long-lived trees.

dental pick a tool with a tiny point, used to scrape off very small debris, bits of soil, etc.

dig an archaeological excavation.

dolmen a neolithic monument composed of a large flat stone laid across two or more standing stones.

effigy mound a mound of soil constructed into the shape of an animal or bird.

evolution the natural process that allows strong, thriving individuals, well adapted to their environ­ment, to pass their genetic heritage on to healthy offspring, while struggling individuals tend to die off; the survival of the fittest.

faunal dating a method that uses specific or known evolutionary changes in an animal to help determine the age of a site where that animal's bones are found.

feature that which cannot be removed from an archaeological excavation, such as a fire pit or post molds.

fieldwork work and research that takes place out­side, usually at a dig, rather than in an office or labo­ratory.

flake a thin, flat chip of stone removed during the making of a stone tool or weapon, sometimes used as a hide scraper.

flexed burial a burial in which the body is found in a fetal position.

flint a black, hard quartz that gives off sparks when struck with steel.

flotation a screening technique in which soil is placed in a drum of water, with lighter materials— usually seeds, carbonized plant remains, and small bone fragments—floating to the top.

fluorine dating a dating method that determines approximate age by measuring how much fluorine a bone has absorbed from groundwater, a known rate.

fossil beach a former beach raised far above sea or lake level.

genealogy a history of ancestral descent; a record or charting of lineage.

grid the dividing of an excavation into precise squares, used to accurately place and record where artifacts are found.

ground penetrating radar the method of sending radar pulses through the soil, with bounced-back sig­nals indicating the presence of hidden structures or features.

hammerstone any strong or very hard stone used to work or chip bone or other stone.

hand ax a stone cutting tool from the Paleolithic period.

hide scraper a stone or bone implement used to scrape away hide from flesh.

hieroglyphics pictographic writing used by the ancient Egyptians.

hominid a human or any two-legged, prehuman ancestor.

hominoid belonging to the family of apes and humans; resembling a human being.

Homo erectus prehuman ancestors who employed fire and lived from 27,000 to 1.8 million years ago, with remains found in Africa, China, and Europe. Known as "Upright man," its inner ear structure, where the body's sense of balance is centered, appears more humanlike than that of any hominid that came before.

Homo ergaster prehuman ancestors who lived in Africa's Rift Valley 1.4 to 2 million years ago and may have been the first, along with H. habilis, to migrate to Asia.