|
 Archaeology | two greek words (archeos which means ancient) and (logos which means knowledge or study) which means study of the past |
| Deductive Reasoning | reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments |
| Artifacts | building blocks of archaeology, any thing made or used by mankind such as architecture, shipwrecks, tombs, funerary artifacts. |
| Physical Anthropology | branch of anthropology that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution, genetic inheritance, human adaptability. |
| Paleobotany | study of plant remains (greek paleon means old and botany means study of plants) |
| Paleo-Environment | climatic and environmental conditions in prehistoric |
| Archaeometry | "archeos" means ancient, "metron" means measure, measurement of the past |
| Obsidian from Franchthi Cave | Palaeolithic Era, earliest evidence for agriculture in Greece |
| Tell/Tel | means hill or mound. Tel is Hebrew, Tell is Arabic. |
| Virgin Soil/Bedrock | native consolidated rock |
| Socle | the interaction of organisms with other organisms |
| Stratigraphy | branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering |
| In Situ | Latin phrase meaning "in the place" |
| The Wheeler-Kenyon Method | method of archaeological excavation. The technique draws its origins from Mortimer Wheeler's work at Verulamium and was later refined by Kathleen Kenyon during her excavations at Jericho. The method involves digging within a series of 5x5 meter squares set within a larger grid. |
| Sir Mortimer Wheeler | one of the best known British archaeologists of the twentieth century |
| Dame Kathleen Kenyon | leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. |
| Baulks | a strip of earth left between excavation trenches for the study of the complete stratigraphy of a site |
| Grid System | a controlled layout of an area into arbitrary squares. Squares provide convenient sized excavation or collection units. |
| Locus | latin for "place" |
| Ostracon | a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. |
| Epigrapher | the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing |
| Surveys | attempt to systematically locate previously unknown sites in a region. |
| Typology | the study of types |
| Type-Sites | the model of a particular archaeology culture |
| Three Age System | the periodization of human prehistory into three consecutive time periods, named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies. Stone, Bronze, Iron. C.J. Thomsen. Changes have been made from Stone Age to Chalcolithic which is the Copper Age. |
| Chronology | a chronicle or arrangement of events in their order of occurrence in time. |
| Relative Chronology | geochronology in which the time order is based on superposition or fossil content rather than on an age expressed in years. |
| Sequence Dating | a relative dating method, links styles of pottery with periods. |
| Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | He came up with Sequence Dating (above). |
| Pre-Dynastic Period | (5500-3100 BC), Best known for the nature of hunter-gatherers change to farmers. |
| Terminus Ad Quem | "time before which" |
| Terminus Post Quem | "time after which" |
| Absolute Chronology | dates of phenomena expressed in years, or in the subdivisions thereof, consist of absolute chronometric dates. |
| Historical Chronology | description of a place throughout history |
| Annals | a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. |
| Manetho | Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era. Wrote Aegyptiaca (history of Egypt). Often used as evidence for the chronology of the reigns of pharaohs. |
| Coregency | the situation where a monarchical position, normally held by only a single person, is held by two. |
| Carbon 14 Dating | radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. |
| W.F. Libby 1949 | created Carbon 14 dating. |
| Half-Life | the period of time it takes for a substance undergoing decay to decrease by half. |
| Half Life of Carbon | is 5,730 plus or minus 40 years |
| California Bristlecone Pines | have lived for more than 5,000 years |
| Corrected or Calibrated Dates | a comparison between measurements-one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a second device. |
| Biblical Archaeology | William F. Albright. Study of archaeology in the Biblical times. |
| Akkadian | language spoken by ancient Mesopotamia. |
| Cuneiform | earliest known writing system in the world. Emerged in the Sumerian civilization of southern Iraq . |
| Neolithic Revolution | the first agricultural revolution - the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. |
| Epic-Paleolithic | used for cultures that were not much affected by the ending of the ice age. |
| Natufian Culture | existed in the Mediterranean region of the Levant. It was a Mesolithic culture, but unusual in that it was sedentary, or semi-sedentary, before the introduction of agriculture. |
| Sedentary Life | term applied to the transition from nomadic to permanent, year-round settlement. |
| Microliths | a small stone tool, typically knapped of flint or chert, usually about three centimeters long or less. Used in Neolithic. |
| Hunting and Gathering | used until the end of the Mesolithic period or start of Neolithic. |
| Spread of the Natufian Culture | End of Ice Age |
| Permanent Settlements | about 150 individuals in their settlement |
| Houses | round huts for a family of three. |
| High Level of Culture | hunters and gatherers |
| Burials | some were contracted and articulated while others were not. Some were ornamented. |
| Burial Practices | skeletons were children under 16, adults were twenty and thirty. |
| Personal Ornaments | necklace, pillar rep. divinity. |
| Art Objects | couple having sex. Dog. |
| Jericho | Oldest Neolithic community in the West Bank between Israel and Jordan |
| PPNA Dwelling | Jericho, about 1000 people |
| Nahal Oren | Natufian burial with limestone mortars. |
| PPNA | 8500-7500: emergence of agriculture and the beginning of herding. The settled communities comprised more complex societies and some sort of central authority capable of organizing public works and utilizing advanced technology. Round or oval dwellings constructed of reeds and clay. Massive protective wall at Jericho. Cultivated barley, single-corn wheat and legumes. Irrigation farming. Flat querns to prepare flower. Skulls without jaws kept in house, bodies under floor. Traded obsidian volcanic glass. |
| PPNB | 7500-6000: rectangular shaped dwellings. Flax, cords and rope. Focus on the human face with sculpting. Plastered skulls. Population increase, settlement increase. Located in semiarid (then rainy) area. Goats main animal, rearing of sheep and cattle. Straw weaving. Pottery making, fireplaces. Sickle blade, axes, knives. |
| PNA | 6000-5000: , rectilinear structures. South Jericho, North Yarmuk. Yamurkian fertility goddess. |
| PNB | 5000-4300: Pottery is significant.Locations were small in fertile plains. Lived in pit dwellings. South Jericho, North Wadi Rabah. Rectangular structures with stone foundations. |