CLAR 120: GLOSSARY
UPDATED: 8/18/15 absolute dating: The determination of age with reference to a specific time scale, such as a fixed calendrical system.
Anatolia: The western Asian peninsula bordered by the Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean, with the eastern border variously defined; today the western part of Turkey. Also called Asia Minor, especially when referring to the Greek and Roman periods. anthropology: The study of humanity - our physical characteristics as animals, and our unique non-biological characteristics we call culture. apsidal: building type with one rounded end, found especially in mainland Greek Early Iron Age contexts. archaeological survey: Recording remains visible on the surface, without recourse to excavation. archaeology: A subdiscipline of anthropology involving the study of the human past through its material remains. artifact: Any portable object used, modified, or made by humans; e.g. stone tools, pottery, and metal weapons. ashlar masonry: masonry style with smoothed rectangular cut blocks. assemblage: A group of artifacts recurring together at a particular time and place, and representing the sum of human activities. band: A term used to describe small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally less than 100 people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food resources. Kinship ties play an important part in social organization.
Big-Man society: A type of socio-political organization where an influential individual achieves the leadership position through personal achievements (alliances, gift exchange networks, feasts, impressive deeds etc). In contrast with chiefdoms, the position of leadership is not hereditary. Archaeologists think that the Early Iron Age (Dark Age) society may have been Big-Man communities. bulla: (Latin, pl. bullae) A hollow clay sphere or envelope used to enclose clay tokens in ancient Mesopotamia. casemate wall: A fortification wall whose foundations consist of stone-walled compartments filled not with stones but with earth; a design used in Bronze Age Anatolia. cataract: In Egypt and Sudan, a place where the Nile River is obstructed by boulders, rocks, and islets, blocking or impeded navigation. The First Cataract, located at Aswan, marked the southern boundary of ancient Egypt. The five additional major cataracts are located further south, in modern Sudan. chiefdom: type of social organization characterized by a limited degree of social hierarchy based on lineage and degree of kinship with a chief. A chiefdom generally has a permanent ritual and ceremonial center and some degree of craft specialization. cist grave: grave type characterized by a relatively small rectangular pit and stone-lined sides, generally covered with stone slabs. citadel: A fortified stronghold within a city, typically dominating the city from a higher elevation. context: the association and relationships between archaeological objects that are in the same place. corbelled: A construction technique where each successive course of horizontally-laid stones projects further inward until the two sides meet at the top. corridor house: monumental building type characteristic of the Early Helladic II period on the Greek mainland. The function is debated, but it likely represents some degree of social hierarchy within contemporary society and may be the seat of a local chief. Alternatively, it may be a meeting place for the community or even a larger region. cuneiform: A writing system in which signs are made from combinations of wedge-shaped marks, used in the Ancient Near East from the Protoliterate period to the first century AD. Cuneiform writing survives on clay tablets and stone inscriptions. The term, coined in the late seventeenth century, is derived from “cuneus,” Latin for “wedge.”
Cyclopean masonry: Stone masonry consisting of crudely fitted huge blocks, with tiny stones filling the interstices; used notably in Mycenaean Greece and the Hittite capital, Hattusa. So named by later Greeks, who believed that only giants such as the Cyclopes could manipulate such large stones.
Cylinder seal. A small cylinder usually of stone, carved on the outside with a design or image, typically pierced longitudinally for a string to pass through. The design would be rolled onto moist clay, a sign of ownership or authority. The cylinder seal, popular in Mesopotamia from the Protoliterate period through the Iron Age, contrasts with the stamp seal (design on the flat underside only) used elsewhere.
Dark Ages: The nickname given to the Early Iron Age (1200-800 BC). diachronic: Referring to phenomena as they change over time; i.e. employing a chronological perspective (cf. synchronic). domestication: The taming of wild plants and animals by humans. Plants are farmed and become dependent on humans for propagation; animals are herded and often become dependent on their human caretakers for food and protection. egalitarian: A term that refers to societies lacking clearly defined status differences between individuals, except for those due to sex, age, or skill. See also hierarchical.
Fertile Crescent: An upland zone in Southwest Asia that runs from the Levant to the Zagros Mountains, with adequate rainfall and many wild species that were domesticated. fresco: wall decoration technique consisting of painted designs applied to wet plaster. goddess with upraised arms: wheel-made female figure with upraised arms typical of cult contexts in Early Iron Age Crete, usually identified as a divinity. hectare: 10,000 square meters (approx. 2.5 acres) heroon: structure where cult activity surrounding a mythological hero takes place. hierarchical: A term referring to societies that have a graded order of inequality in ranks, statuses, or decision makers. See also egalitarian. hieroglyphs: type of writing consisting primarily of ideograms; most prominently used in Egyptian religious texts, but also used as an administrative script in Protopalatial Crete. horns of consecration: Minoan symbol shaped like a pair of abstract bull horns; it may represent a double mountain peak. höyük: See Tell. hunter-gatherers: A collective term for the members of small-scale mobile or semi-sedentary societies, whose subsistence is mainly focused on hunting game and gathering wild plants and fruits; organizational structure is based on bands with strong kinship ties. hypostyle: Having a roof supported by multiple rows of columns or pillars. iconography: The study of artistic representations which may have cultural, religious, or ceremonial significance. in situ: Indicates objects that are still in their primary context at the time of excavation. See primary context. intramural: Pertaining to graves located within the confines of a settlement. Graves outside a settlement are extramural. kouloura (pl. kouloures): large circular stone-built enclosures found in association with Minoan courtyard buildings; possibly used for grain storage but may have had different functions in different places. They go back to the Protopalatial period.
Levant: A mountainous region paralleling the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, including parts of the countries of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
Linear A: syllabic script used for administrative purposes in the Protopalatial and Neopalatial periods on Crete; largely untranslated.
Linear B: syllabic script used for administrative purposes in the Late Bronze Age in Mycenaean centers; an early form of Greek. lithic: Pertaining to stone or rock. lustral basin: Minoan architectural feature consisting of a small sunken room usually lined with gypsum or plaster whose function is unknown but likely ceremonial. mastaba tomb: From Arabic, “bench.” In ancient Egypt, a low, flat-roofed rectangular structure typically made of sun-dried mud brick that protected a burial in the ground below. material culture: The buildings, tools, and other artifacts that constitute the material remains of former societies. megaron (pl. megara): building unit consisting of an axially aligned main room and anteroom/porch. Megara form the central units of Mycenaean palaces, but appear in Greece and surrounding regions (e.g. Troy) from the Neolithic period onwards.
Mesopotamia: (=”land between the rivers) The flat plain between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq.
Neolithic Revolution: A phrase coined by V.G. Childe that indicates the dramatic nature of changes in subsistence techniques that occurred during the long-lasting Neolithic period: agriculture (cultivation) and animal husbandry; also includes such other skills developed at this time as pottery making, metallurgy, and recording systems (before writing). obsidian: A dark glass-like volcanic stone; especially before the development of metallurgy, used for making tools valued for their sharp cutting edges. peak sanctuary: type of Minoan cult site located on the tops of mountains; characterized by minimal architecture and votives often in the form of terracotta figurines. peristyle: A row of columns surrounding a space within a building such as a court or internal garden or edging a veranda or porch. A peristyle court is a courtyard surrounded by columned porticoes. polis (pl. poleis): a city-state in the Greek world from the 8th century BC onwards (examples: Athens, Sparta etc). postern: A small, secondary entrance, especially in a fortification; often in a concealed location. prehistory: In general, the human past; specifically, the time before the appearance of written records. primary burial: the initial interment of a human corpse. cf. secondary burial. primary context: The context of an artifact, feature, or site that has not been disturbed since its original deposition. provenience: the place of origin for archaeological materials, including location, association, and context. pylon: The monumental entrance of an Egyptian temple that consists of wedge-shaped, tapering towers. rank: A relationship of inequality between members of society in which status is determined by kinship relations of birth order and lineage. ranked societies: Societies in which there is unequal access to prestige and status, e.g. chiefdoms and states. relative chronology/relative dating: Ordering objects or events in a sequence, earlier and later, without reference to calendar (absolute) dates; e.g. the arrangement of artifacts in a typological sequence (cf. absolute dating). relieving triangle: triangular space over a lintel formed by corbelling; designed to minimize the amount of weight and stress on post and lintel doors/gateways. sealing: lump of clay impressed by a seal. secondary burial: The practice of removing the remains of a corpse from the initial place of interment to another grave. cf. primary burial. sedentism: Living in permanent, year-round contexts, such as villages. shaft grave: similar to a cist grave in construction, but more elaborated, usually set at the bottom of a deep shaft. Most important for our class are the shaft graves of the Mycenaean grave circles. state: A term used to describe a social formation defined by distinct territorial boundedness, and characterized by strong central government in which the operation of political power is sanctioned by legitimate force. stele: rectangular slab of stone which carries decoration (painted or carved) or an inscription. stratigraphy: The study of layers of deposits at an archaeological site, their nature and their relationship to each other. It is often used as a relative dating technique to assess the temporal sequence of artifact deposition. A succession of layers should provide a relative chronological sequence, usually with the earliest at the bottom and the latest at the top. synoecism: unification of smaller settlements and villages to form proto-poleis (see polis). One of the important developments of the 8th century “Renaissance” in Greece. tell: A Near Eastern term that refers to a mound site formed through successive human occupation over a very long timespan. In the Near East, decomposed sun-dried mud brick, a favored building material, constitutes the main element of such mounds. In Turkish, = höyük. tholos tomb: round domed tomb constructed with corbelled masonry. The most prominent examples are found in EM Crete and Mycenaean Greece. tribes: A term used to describe a social grouping generally larger than a band, but rarely numbering more than a few thousand; unlike bands tribes are usually settled farmers, though they also include nomadic pastoral groups whose economy is based on exploitation of livestock. Individual communities tend to be integrated into the larger society through kinship ties. typology: The systematic organization of artifacts into types on the basis of shared attributes. Typological development of artifacts over time helps archaeologists with relative dating. vault: Arched roofing that covers a room or other three-dimensional space. votive: An object offered or dedicated to a god or goddess. ziggurat: A monumental stepped platform with, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, a small temple on the top. Made of sun-dried bricks, the ziggurat was an architectural form popular in Mesopotamia and western Iran in the Bronze and Iron Ages. zooarchaeology: the identification and analysis of faunal species from archaeological sites, as an aid to the reconstruction of human diets and to an understanding of the contemporary environment at the time of deposition.