STONE VAULT GRAVE: A type of [burial mound] consisting chiefly of flat stones enclosing a walled-up tomb chamber, the whole covered with earth. In Illinois known at present only from Adams County.
STONE VAULT SUBCULTURE: A division of Final [Woodland] [Phase] that is characterized by [stone] vault graves.
SUBCULTURE: Any archaeological grouping smaller than a [phase].
SUBSTAGE or [STATUS]: A subdivision of a [Stage] that develops as the result of a significant invention, discovery of a special resource, or some other condition of the surroundings.
TECHNOLOGY: The processes by which any artifact is produced.
TEEPEE: A conical framework of poles covered with bark, skins, brush, mats, etc. used as a shelter or hut by primitive peoples.
TEMPERING: Foreign material such as sand, crushed limestone, plant fibers, crushed shell, etc. mixed with the clay in pottery-making to render the vessel less likely to crack in firing.
TEMPLE MOUND: A rectangular pyramid with a flat top on which a temple was built. Similar mounds were used for council and [chief]’s houses among historic [Mississippi] peoples. Flat-topped pyramidal mounds are characteristic of the important Middle Mississippi sites in Illinois.
THERMAL MAXIMUM: A time interval (roughly between 5000 and 2000 B.C.) in which the climate was warmer and drier than at present.
TOMAHAWK: A hafted [hatchet] of [stone] or metal used in fighting.