GLOSSARY
Aborigine—The native inhabitants of a country; in America, the Indians.
Apocynum—A plant, related to the milkweed, which provided fibers used in weaving.
Archaeology—The scientific study of the material remains of human life and human activities in prehistoric or ancient times.
Artifact—A product of human workmanship. Commonly used by archaeologists in speaking of prehistoric tools, implements, etc.
Atlatl—An Aztec word meaning spear-thrower. Atlatls are throwing sticks which have a handle on one end and on the other a spur which fits into a pit or cup drilled into the basal end of a dart shaft. When the dart is thrown the [atlatl] remains in the hand.
Basic Culture—See [Culture].
Caliche—A crust or succession of crusts of calcium carbonate that forms within or on top of the soil of arid or semi-arid regions.
Ceramic—Pertaining to pottery and its materials.
Chronology—The study of the method of arranging past events or the material representing them in a sequence of their happenings in relation to years or in relation to each other.
Cist—An oval or circular pit, often slab-lined, used for storage. Cists sometimes served a secondary purpose as depositories for the dead.
Clan—A social group made up of a number of households, the heads of which claim descent in either the male or female line from a common ancestor.
Cloisonne—A surface decoration produced by outlining a design with strips of flat wire and filling the interstices with enamel.
Complex—A group of related traits or characteristics which combine to form a complete activity, process, or cultural unit.
Compound—In the Orient, a wall or fenced enclosure containing a house, buildings, etc. The term is also used to describe the walled enclosures built during Classic Hohokam times.
Corrugated Pottery—Pottery in which the alternate ridges and depressions resulting from a coiling-and-pinching technique of manufacture have not been obliterated.
Coursed Masonry—Masonry constructed of stones lying on approximately level beds.
Cranium—Skull (Plural: Crania)
Culture—The total activities and beliefs of a group of individuals which may be separated from other groups on the basis of differences in complexes and original differences in geographical and chronological positions. In an archaeological context, the material remains of a group of people which represent traits which they had in common, which differentiated them from other people. A [Basic Culture] is, as the name implies, one which provides a base or foundation for succeeding cultures. It is essentially a cultural root from which may spring stems and branches.
Deflector—An upright slab, standing between fireplace and ventilator in a pit house or [kiva], designed to protect the fire from inrushing air.
Dendrochronology—A system of establishing an absolute count of years by utilizing the pattern combinations of tree-rings.
Diffusion—The transference of elements of [culture] from one society to another.
Effigy—An image of a living object.
Ethnology—The scientific study of the cultures of living primitive peoples.
Hatchures—Short, closely spaced, parallel lines used in pottery designs.
Hogan—A Navajo house; one room, domed or conically shaped, made of logs, sometimes with stone side walls, usually covered with earth.
Horizon—In a site, a level or stratum. In a [culture], a particular level of development.
Incised—In pottery, grooved in soft clay with a sharp tool.
Jacal—A type of construction in which walls are made of upright poles set at short intervals and heavily plastered with adobe.
Katchinas—Supernatural beings in Pueblo Indian mythology, or masked dancers personifying these beings.
Killed Pottery—Pottery in which a hole has been punched or drilled in order to release the soul or spirit of the vessel which is conceived as being a part of the maker.
Kiva—A ceremonial chamber, usually subterranean and circular.
Mano—A hand stone, usually roughly oblong, used for grinding grains, seeds, etc.
Metate—The grinding stone on which the [Mano] is rubbed.
Moraine—An accumulation of earth, stones, etc. carried and finally deposited by a glacier.
Oxidizing Atmosphere—Pottery is said to have been fired in an [oxidizing atmosphere] when air is permitted to circulate around it during the firing process. This leads to an excess of oxygen in the atmosphere and produces pottery in shades of red, brown, or yellow.
Paddle-and-Anvil—A pottery-finishing technique in which coil impressions are obliterated by striking the exterior of the vessel with a paddle while holding a round or mushroom-shaped object, known as an anvil, within the vessel to receive the force of the blow.
Periphery—In archaeological usage, a marginal area, a region lying immediately beyond the boundaries of a specific area.
Pilaster—A square column forming part of a wall.
Phase—This term is used in different ways by different archaeologists. For the purposes of this book, it may be defined as an interval of [culture] occurring in a specific area at a specific time and associated with a particular culture. It may also be defined as a group of sites with similar determinants.
Polychrome Pottery—Pottery bearing three or more colors.
Plaza—A public square.
Projectile Point—An arrow point, spear point, or dart point.
Reducing Atmosphere—Pottery is said to have been fired in a [reducing atmosphere] when air is not allowed to circulate around it during the firing process. This results in a reduction of the oxygen content of the atmosphere and produces pottery in shades of white and gray.
Sherd—A fragment of a broken, pottery vessel.
Sipapu—A hole commonly found in the floors of kivas which is symbolic of the mythological place from which, according to creation myths, the first people emerged from the underworld.
Slip—A coating of very fine clay applied to a vessel before firing to give a smooth finish.
Spall—A chip or flake removed from a larger piece of stone.
Stockade—An enclosure made with posts and stakes.
Stratification—The characteristic of being in layers or strata and the processes by which such material is deposited. A single layer is called a Stratum, more than one, Strata. When undisturbed the lowest stratum is the oldest since it was laid down first.
Trait—Any single element of [culture].
Temper—Non-plastic material added to clay from which pottery is made to prevent cracking.
Twilling—A system of weaving in which the woof thread is carried over one and under two or more warp threads, producing diagonal lines or ribs on the surface of the fabric or basket.
Twining—A system of weaving in which splints or threads are intertwined around a foundation of radiating rods or threads.
Tuff—Solidified volcanic ash.
Typology—The study of any system of arrangement according to type.