Archaeology Wordsmith

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Results for Hili:

Hili: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A number of small settlement sites in southeastern Arabia. Hili 8 provided the architectural and ceramic sequence for the Bronze Age of the region, c 3000-1800 BC. The occurrence of domesticated sorghum is among the earliest known. Burials, ceramics, and stone vessels have been excavated.
Kissonerga-Mosphilia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Chalcolithic settlements on Cyprus with circular stone structures from the mid-4th to mid-3rd millennia BC.
Philia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Type site for Chalcolithic III culture in northern Cyprus, mid-3rd millennium BC. It is characterized by red polished pottery.
Philippi: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Old Thasian settlement in Kavála, Greece, which Philip II of Macedon fortified in 356 BC to control neighboring gold mines. In 42 BC Philippi was the site of the decisive Roman battle in which Mark Antony and Octavian (later the emperor Augustus) defeated Brutus and Cassius, the leading assassins of Julius Caesar. Located in Thrace, it was the object of an unsuccessful attempt at colonization by Thasos in the 6th century BC and for a time was known as Crenides and Daton. After his victory, Mark Antony established Philippi as a colonia for his veterans, and the town gained strategic importance from its position and its proximity to the port of Neapolis. Philippi was important in the early history of Christianity, as is shown by the prominence given to the story of St. Paul preaching there in 49 AD and being consequently imprisoned and extensive early Christian building. Among the ruins are walls, acropolis, forum, gymnasium, macellum, baths, and theaters.
Philippines: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An archipelago of about 7,100 islands and islets lying about 500 miles (800 km) off the southeastern coast of Asia. A firm archaeological sequence began there c 30,000 years ago, at Tabon Cave on Palawan Island. There are Late Pleistocene stone industries, the spread of a small flake and blade technology after 5000 BC (Holocene), and the arrival and rapid spread of Austronesian-speaking horticulturists after 3000 BC. Rich jar-burial assemblages occur in the islands from about 1000 BC; bronze and iron appear later. Chinese traders visited and lived on the islands from about 1000 AD. Indian culture reached the archipelago during the 14th-16th centuries via Indonesian kingdoms, notably the Java-based kingdom of Majapahit. This is particularly noticeable in Philippine languages and literatures where Sanskrit loanwords and ancient Indian motifs abound. At the beginning of the 15th century Filipinos were primarily shifting cultivators, hunters, and fishermen with animistic beliefs. Islam was introduced later in the same century, followed by Ferdinand Magellan's discovery of the Philippines in 1521.
Philistines: SYNONYM: (Egyptian) Pulesati
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: One of the Peoples of the Sea who, repulsed from Egypt c 1200 BC, drove the Canaanites from southern Palestine (name derived from their name) and settled there, marking the beginning of the Iron Age in that region. They were a warlike, seafaring people and adopted the culture of the Canaanites, but introduced new type of pottery decorated with metopes and bird designs. The Philistine tombs at Tell Fara, contained iron weapons and pottery coffins with anthropoid lids. Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gaza, Gath, and Ekron were their five chief cities. The Philistines were eventually absorbed by the Israelites under David c 1000 BC. They are known mainly from documentary sources, appearing in Egyptian records as one of the Peoples of the Sea, and in Biblical accounts as a people who drove the Canaanites out of the coastal plain and eventually became part of the Israelite kingdom.
Tana ware: SYNONYM: Early Kitchen ware, Swahili ware
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Pottery of early Swahili communities of the late 1st millennium AD, found from the Lamu Archipelago off the Kenyan coast as far south as Vilanculos Bay in Mozambique, as well as on the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Comoros, and Madagascar.
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Alexander the Great (Alexander III), king of Macedonia, began his career of conquest in 335 BC. He overthrew the Persian Empire and laid the foundation for the territorial kingdoms of the Hellenistic world. Born in Macedonia in 356 BC, he was the son of Philip II and Olympias. He was taught by the great philosopher Aristotle from the age of 13-16. Alexander took power in Macedonia and mainland Greece in 340 BC when Philip left to attack Byzantium. By 332 BC, his arrival in Egypt ended the Persian occupation and he had already conquered much of western Asia and the Levant before his arrival in Egypt. In Egypt, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and visited the oracle of Amun-Ra where he was recognized as the god's son, thus restoring the true pharaonic line. He founded the city of Alexandria and then left Egypt in 331 BC to continue his conquest of the Achaemenid empire. His empire stretched from India to Egypt. After his death from a fever in 323 BC, his kingdom quickly dissolved.
Ascalon: SYNONYM: Askalon, Askelon
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Philistine city on the southern coast of Palestine, southwest of Jerusalem. Excavations have uncovered remains of the Roman period, with some small areas of Philistine levels. Egyptian texts describe Ascalon as one of the cities that revolted against Rameses II. During the Roman period, Ascalon was the birthplace of Herod the Great. It flourished during that time and was occupied in the Byzantine and Arab periods.
Ashdod: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Palestinian site of a Canaanite city of the Late Bronze Age that was probably destroyed by the Sea Peoples. It was one of the cities of the Philistine Pentapolis.
Ashkelon: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Palestinian site of the Late Bronze Age with artifacts of Egyptian and Cypriote origin. There was an Iron Age Philistine city and material from the Roman period.
Askelon: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A city of the Philistines on the coast of Palestine near Gaza. Under Roman levels are Philistine deposits and there is a destruction level, the work of the Peoples of the Sea c 1200 BC, separating these levels from the underlying Late Bronze Age of the Canaanites.
Athens: SYNONYM: Athínai (modern Greek), Athenai (ancient Greek)
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Important classical Greek city-state with evidence for continuous occupation from the Late Neolithic, but because of its continuous occupation and the resulting disturbance of the earlier levels, its history is told from the time of the Mycenaeans in the Late Bronze Age. The citadel on the Acropolis was walled early in its history. It is the capital of Greece and generally considered to be the birthplace of Western civilization. Athens is best known for its temples and public buildings of antiquity. The Parthenon, a columned, rectangular temple built for the city's patron goddess, Athena, is considered to be the culmination of the Doric order of classical Greek architecture. Also located on the Acropolis are the Erechtheum, originally the temple of both Athena and Poseidon, and the Propylaea, the entrance of which is through the wall of the Acropolis. At the foot of the Acropolis, to the south, are the theaters of Herodes and Dionysus, while to the northwest is the Agora, the ancient marketplace of the city. The Kerameikos cemetery documents the city's Iron Age (c 11-8 BC), after which archaeology and history combine to tell of its brilliance through the classical period. It supposedly rivaled Knossos and later resisted successive waves of Dorian invaders. It is still not clear how far Athens, perhaps the base of the very early Ionian colonies, managed to ride out the 'dark age' that followed the collapse of Mycenaean civilization. There is evidence of a cultural and commercial renaissance in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. A major component of this socioeconomic revolution was the borrowing of the Phoenician alphabet for the writing of Greek. Commercial success brought rapid economic growth and a population explosion. New ideas were imported and political upheaval led to experiments in government, such as democracy. Athens resisted Persian invaders and developed a prestige which allowed the establishment of the Delian League and the extension of her political power -- the Athenian empire. In the years 447-431 BC, under Pericles, vast sums were spent on public works, such as the new group of buildings on the Acropolis including the Parthenon. Pericles would not grant the Hellenes the freedom requested by Sparta, which led to the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) after which Athens was a dependent of Sparta. Escape from Spartan imperialism in the 4th century BC was threatened by Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great. By the end of the century, Macedon dominated and Athens did not achieve independence until 228 BC. Rome then intruded in the 2nd and 1st centuries and Athens was sieged and plundered by Sulla. During the Imperial period, Athens was confined to a role as a cultural center and seat of learning for the rich -- which lasted into the 6th century AD, when the edict of Justinian in 529 closed down the schools of philosophy. By the Byzantine period, Athens had become a modest provincial town. Athens' ruins will be difficult to protect from the corrosive atmosphere and millions of visiting tourists.
Austronesian: SYNONYM: Malayo-Polynesian
CATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: The major language family of the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (including Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, parts of southern Vietnam, Madagascar, Melanesia (excluding much of New Guinea), Micronesia, and Polynesia). The family is divided into 1) Western Austronesian, or Indonesian, containing about 200 languages, and 2) Eastern Austronesian, or Oceanic, with about 300 languages. Proto-Austronesian probably started in southern China or Taiwan before 3000 BC. Austronesian speakers were the first humans to settle the Pacific islands beyond western Melanesia. Austronesians were the most widely spread ethno-linguistic group on earth, with the distance from Madagascar to Easter Island being 210 degrees of longitude.
Banaue: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A region of rice and house terraces in northern Luzon, the Philippines, that dates to c 1000 BC. It belonged to the Ifugao people and the terraces extend in giant steps up mountain sides.
Batungan: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Cave sites in the central Philippines dating to at least 900 BC and hold flaked stone tools and pottery, some decorated with stamped patterns. There is a possible connection with pottery of Taiwan, with Kalanay / Sulawesi, and with Lapita ware.
Beersheba: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site in southern Israel which was a frontier post in ancient Palestine. The earliest occupations were in 12th and 11th centuries BC, but the first town belonged to the period of the United Monarchy (10th century). The 8th century BC town wall with a great gateway flanked by double guard chambers and external towers has been excavated. There was also a 15-meter ring road inside the wall which divided the inner and outer towns. Beersheba may have been the administrative center of the region and there are indications of storerooms which may have contained the royal stores for the collection of taxes in kind (grain, wine, oil, etc.). The town was destroyed in the mid-7th century BC. Beersheba is first mentioned as the site where Abraham, founder of the Jewish people, made a covenant with the Philistine king Abimelech of Gerar (Genesis 21). Isaac and Jacob, the other patriarchs, also lived there (Genesis 26, 28, 46).
betel nut: CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: The nut or fruit of the Areca Palm, which is chewed in tropical Asia, Melanesia, and New Guinea as a stimulant. It was misnamed by Europeans because it is chewed with the betal leaf; hence, betel palm is the Areca Palm from which the nut is obtained. Archaeological occurrences include Spirit Cave (c 10,000-7,000 BC), eastern Timor (early Holocene), and several sites in the Philippines, where teeth stained by the nut have been found from c 3000 BC.
Beth-Shemesh: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Palestinian site of the Middle Bronze Age that was possibly a Hyksos fortified settlement and later a Late Bronze Age and Philistine town.
Borneo: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The largest island of Southeast Asia, first mentioned in Ptolemy's Guide to Geography" of c 150 AD. Joined to mainland Southeast Asia during the low sea-level Pleistocene period archaeological sequences have been found in the Niah Caves of Sarawak and the Madai-Tingkayu region of Sabah. The Niah Great Cave sequence suggests the presence of a population of early Australoids from about 40 000 years ago and evidence from all sites indicate that the ancestors of present-day Borneans arrived around 3000 BC possibly from the Philippines. Though traces of Homo erectus from 2 million years ago were found on neighboring Java so far no evidence has been found of Homo erectus in Borneo. Roman trade beads and Indo-Javanese artifacts give evidence of a flourishing civilization dating to the 2nd or 3rd century BC. A Sanskrit inscription dated to c 400 AD is the earliest historical document on the island. Three rough foundation stones with an inscription recording a gift to a Brahman priest date from the early 5th century AD found at Kutai provide evidence of a Hindu kingdom. The first recorded European visitor was Franciscan friar Odoric of Pordenone who visited on his way from India to China in 1330."
breadfruit: SYNONYM: bread-fruit
CATEGORY: flora
DEFINITION: The fruit of a tree in the South Sea islands that is about the size of a melon and whose whitish pulp (with the consistency of new bread) requires cooking before it can be eaten. The tree was probably first cultivated from the Philippines to New Guinea, and attained great economic importance in the Polynesian Islands, especially the Marquesas and Tahiti, about 1500-2000 years ago. The fruit was also dried or allowed to ferment, and could then be stored for several years in underground pits. In 1788, Captain William Bligh was attempting to take breadfruit saplings from Tahiti to the West Indies when the famous mutiny on HMS Bounty occurred.
Cabalwanian industry: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A stone industry of flakes in Luzon, Philippines, thought to be early Holocene.
Caesarea: SYNONYM: Cherchel, Caesarea Palaestinae, Caesarea Maritima, Straton's Tower, Strato's Tower
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An ancient port and administrative city of Palestine on the Mediterranean coast of present-day Israel. It is often called Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Maritima to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi. It was originally an ancient Phoenician settlement known as Straton's (Strato's Tower) and was rebuilt and enlarged by Herod the Great around 22-10 BC, who renamed it for his patron, Caesar Augustus. Herod also rebuilt the harbor, which traded with his newly built city at Sebaste (Augusta) of ancient Samaria. There were Hellenistic-Roman public buildings and an aqueduct. After Herod died, it became the capital of the Roman province of Judaea. An inscription naming Pontius Pilate is one of the best-known from the site. The city became the capital of the Roman province of Judaea in AD 6. Jewish revolts and later Byzantine and Arab rule cause the city's decline.
Cagayan Valley: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A broad valley in northern Luzon, Philippines, with several sites from which some association has been found between a pebble and flake industry with a Middle Pleistocene fauna including elephants, Stegodon, rhinoceros, and bovids.
Canaanite: SYNONYM: Canaan
CATEGORY: culture; site; language
DEFINITION: The original pre-Israelite inhabitants of an area encompassing all of Palestine and Syria, sometimes including all land west of the Jordan River and the coast from Acre north. The names Canaan and Canaanite occur in cuneiform, Egyptian, and Phoenician writings from about the 15th century BC as well as in the Bible. They were the branch of the Semites related to the Hyksos who occupied the Levant from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age, c 2000-1200 BC. In the south they were displaced by the Israelites and Philistines; in the north they were the ancestors of the Phoenicians. Their main significance in history lies in their role as middlemen and traders, through whose hands passed cultural influences between Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Hittites. Canaanite sites include Lachish, Megiddo, Byblos, and Ugarit. The Canaanites were responsible for the invention of the first alphabetic writing system.
Chateau Gaillard: SYNONYM: (French: Saucy Castle")"
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A 12th-century castle built by Richard the Lion-Heart on his return from the Third Crusade in 1196. Sitting on the Andelys cliff overlooking the Seine River in France, substantial portions of it still stand. Château Gaillard, the strongest castle of its age, guarded the Seine River valley approach to Normandy. It was successfully besieged by Philip II in 1204. The French isolated the fort with a double ditch, then collapsed part of the châtelet and penetrated the main fortress through the latrines.
Chiflet, Jean-Jacques (1588-1673): CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Philip IV's (Spain) surgeon who was entrusted with studying and reporting on objects found in the tomb of Childeric I (AD 481/482), Clovis's father, discovered at Tournai in 1653. Anastasis Childerici I" printed in 1655 may be regarded as the earliest scientific archaeological publication."
Dimolit: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Neolithic open settlement site in northern Luzon, Philippines, dating from c 2500 BC. The occupation had pottery, flakes with edge-gloss, and postholes of small square houses, and items paralleled in Taiwanese Neolithic sites.
El Riego phase: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The occupation phase of c 7000-5500 BC in Tehuacán Valley, Mexico, with a hunter-gatherer society. Squash, chili peppers, and avocados may have been domesticated by the very small population.
Far'ah, Tell el-: SYNONYM: el-Fara
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Two tells of this name, excavated in Palestine, inland from Gaza. The northern tell had a 4th millennium BC Chalcolithic settlement with circular, semi-subterranean dwellings and an Early Bronze Age occupation. It later became an Israelite town; for a few years in the 9th century BC, the northern tell was the capital of Israel (Tirzah), before Omri moved to Samaria. The southern tell may have been a Hyksos fortification. Its remains include a large building of the Late Bronze Age and remains of the Philistines from the Iron Age. The most impressive material came from five rich Philistine tombs containing characteristic Philistine decorated pottery, native Late Bronze Age undecorated wares, bronze bowls, daggers and spears; an iron dagger and an iron knife were also found, among the earliest finds of this metal in Palestine.
Gaza: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Palestinian site under modern Gaza; the southernmost city of the Philistine Pentapolis. Philistines, Egyptians, and 'Peoples of the Sea' occupied the site. The earliest evidence comes from two cemeteries, one to the north and one to the east of the main mound, with shaft graves containing pottery and daggers of the late 3rd millennium BC. On the tell itself, the earliest excavated remains are of the Middle Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC); earliest of all was a cemetery, underlying a large building interpreted by Flinders-Petrie as a palace of the Middle Bronze Age II period. This was succeeded by four other large buildings, of the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age. There are famous mosaics in the Synagogue from c 6th century AD and the Great Mosque, originally a cathedral of the 12th century AD.
Gedi: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An early Swahili coastal town on the East African coast of Kenya. Gedi was probably founded around 1300 AD and enjoyed prosperity into at least the 16th century due to the Indian Ocean trade and increased exploitation of Zimbabwean gold. The ruins of the houses and great mosque are well preserved.
Huxley's Line: CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: The biological and geographical divide between Bali and Lombok and Borneo and Sulawesi, west of the Philippines and marking the boundary of the East Asian faunal zone during the Pleistocene periods of low sea-level. It is often confused with Wallace's Line, which follows the same course but runs south, not west, of the Philippines. Huxley's Line also marks the limit of settlement by hominids before the emergence of anatomically modern humans (c 50,000 years ago).
Israelites: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A branch of Semitic people of nomadic origin who emerged in the Levant at the start of the Iron Age, c 1200 BC. This emergence is identified with a shift of settlement, small villages dispersed in upland regions replacing urban life. They are said to have been led by Moses from Egypt to the Promised Land of Palestine. They conquered the Canaanites and the Philistines in some areas and created a powerful monarchy with its capital at Jerusalem in the 10th century BC. The Canaanites retained control of the coastal area, however. Shortly thereafter, it split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, later to be destroyed, respectively, by the Assyrians in 722 BC and Babylonians in 587 BC. Although there exists a wealth of documentary evidence for the Israelites in the Bible, they are difficult to identify in the archaeological record. The major building works of the united kingdom belong to the reign of Solomon.
Kalanay: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A cave site on Masbate Island in the central Philippines, which has produced incised and impressed pottery of a type found widely in Southeast Asia and South Vietnam from c 500/400 BC to 1500 AD. Kalanay is one of the type sites for the 'Sa-Huynh-Kalanay' pottery complex (Sa-Huynh of coastal Vietnam). There are metal period jar burials from the late 1st millennium BC or later.
kettle drum: SYNONYM: Dong Son drums
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Large bronze drums, also known as Dong Son drums (northern Vietnam), first produced more than 2000 years ago and found throughout Southeast Asia (with the exception of the Philippines and the island of Borneo). These drums are generally associated with wealth, power, and fertility and were important in rituals.
Lapita: CATEGORY: artifact; culture
DEFINITION: A major Oceanic culture complex, named after the type site of Lapita, New Caledonia. It is defined by a distinctive type of pottery with dentate-stamped banded decoration in geometric patterns, appearing c 3500 bp and which appeared throughout much of the western Pacific, including Fiji and Samoa. Most Lapita sites are on offshore islands and assemblages include elaborate shell tools and ornaments, the use of obsidian, and stone adzes. The obsidian and pottery style suggest long-distance trade. The culture is almost certainly associated with ancestral Polynesians moving eastwards from island Southeast Asia (perhaps from the Philippines), through previously inhabited Melanesia, to the hitherto empty islands of Tonga and Samoa in Western Polynesia. The culture therefore represents the origin of the Polynesians prior to their settlement of geographical Polynesia. It is thought to be associated with the spread of Austronesian speakers into the Western Pacific.
Larisa: SYNONYM: Larissa
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Mousterian site in northern Greece and a Final Neolithic culture with a black polished pottery. In antiquity, Larissa was the seat of the Aleuad clan, founded by Aleuas, who claimed descent from Heracles. The poet Pindar and the physician Hippocrates died there. In 357 BC the last Aleuads called in Philip II of Macedonia against the tyrants of Pherae, and from 344 to 196 Larissa remained under Macedonia. Rome then made it capital of the reorganized Thessalian League. The emperor Justinian fortified the city, whose name means citadel"."
Leang Tuwo Mane'e: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Rock shelter on the coast of Karakellang, Talaud Islands, northeastern Indonesia, which has produced a preceramic small blade industry, c 3000 BC, followed by the appearance of a Neolithic assemblage by about 2000 BC, probably introduced from the Philippines.
Manda: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The site of a Swahili city-state apparently established in the 9th century and distinguished for its seawalls of coral blocks, each of which weighs up to a ton. Located in the Lamu Archipelago off the coast of Kenya, it had numerous stone-built (and wattle-and-daub) houses. Trade, which seems to have been by barter, was considerable, with the main export probably of ivory. Manda had close trading connections with the Persian Gulf -- Siraf in particular. It imported large quantities of Islamic pottery and, in the 9th and 10th centuries, Chinese porcelain. There is evidence of a considerable iron-smelting industry at Manda.
Marianas Islands: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An island group in western Micronesia with a sequence starting with settlement around 1500 BC, by island people in Southeast Asia. They made a distinctive red-slipped ware (Marianas Redware Phase), sometimes incised with lime-filled decoration, closely related to Philippine wares. By 800 AD, a plain, unslipped ware was in use, and stone architecture had developed. Parallel rows of upright pillars topped with hemispheric capstones (halege) were erected. The pillars were supports for structures called latte (after which term the culture is named), which may have served as houses or canoe sheds. Each village had from one to several latte structures. Stone and shell tools were used and the betel nut was chewed, as shown by extended burials most often located between the rows of latte.
Messene: SYNONYM: Messini
CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: Ancient Greek city in southwest Peloponnese, Greece, founded in 369 BC after the defeat of Sparta by Athens. The site includes with Megalopolis, Mantineia, and Argos; the summit of Mt. Ithómi served as the acropolis. The classical city withstood several Macedonian and Spartan sieges. After the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, it was absorbed into the domain of Philip II of Macedonia, and it remained important under the Romans. The Hellenistic agora, theater, stadium, Temple of Artemis, city walls, and council chamber have been excavated.
Micronesia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An ethnographic and geographic region comprising the Palau, Marianas, Guam, Nauru, Caroline and Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. The Palaus and Marianas were probably settled from the Philippines after 2000 BC and each has a ceramic sequence throughout prehistory. The eastern groups, mainly atolls, were settled later, perhaps from a Lapita source in Melanesia, and pottery production died out after initial settlement (as in Polynesia). Physically and linguistically, the Micronesians are close cousins to the Polynesians though their Polynesian ancestors appear to have moved through Melanesia rather than Micronesia.
Musang Cave: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Cave in northern Luzon, Philippines with an early flake industry c 12,000-9000 BC. There is also a Neolithic assemblage dated to c 3500 BC (or later).
Near Oceania: CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: Those islands of the Pacific Ocean that can be reached by watercraft without going out of sight of land -- basically comprising the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
nephrite: CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: The more common form of jade, an iron calcium magnesium silicate of the amphibole mineral group. It is whitish to dark green in color, though it can be blue and black, prized as an ornamental stone for carving and jewelry. Jadeite is tougher and more compact. Sources of the material are known in China, Siberia, Pakistan, New Zealand, the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia, Poland, the Swiss Alps, Italy and Sicily, and North and South America.
Noirmoutier: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An island that lies off the coast of western France just south of the mouth of the Loire, first colonized by Philibert monks in the 6th-7th centuries. The monastery became an important producer of salt during Carolingian times. From 842, the Vikings raided the island repeatedly, forcing the monks to flee inland with the remains of St. Philibert. There they constructed the church of St. Philibert de Grandieu, one of the finest examples of French 9th-century architecture.
Olympia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Principal sanctuary of Zeus in Greece and the site of the original Olympic Games, a Panhellenic sanctuary in the western Peloponnese of Greece. It originated in the Greek Bronze Age and has a 7th century BC Temple of Hera and 5th century BC Temple of Zeus. Traces of the circular building of Philip of Macedon and buildings associated with athletes and games -- gymnasium, palaestra, bouleuterion, Leonidaeon, and running track have been found. The workshop of the sculptor Pheidias, who made bronze of Athene at Athens and Zeus at Olympia, has been located. Perhaps first attracting use as an earth shrine and oracle, the site shows signs of continuous occupation from early in the 3rd millennium BC. The Games were celebrated on a four-yearly cycle, the Olympiad, which came to form the basis of a Greek system of dating. The first Olympiad is dated to 776 BC, but tradition places the commencement of the Games in the 9th century, with ascriptions variously to Heracles or Pelops as founder. The Games showed an unbroken record of celebration from 776 BC to 393 AD, when Theodosius I abolished them.
Olynthus: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Ancient city of northern Greece, captured and destroyed by Philip of Macedon in 348 BC. Some late Neolithic settlement is followed after a gap by Iron Age occupation by Thracian tribes, perhaps from about 1000 BC. The 5th-4th centuries BC saw the classical Greek town caught up in alliances, misalliances, intrigues and wars. The town, from c 430 BC, had a road system and Hippodamian-planned house blocks. Many of the houses show an internal courtyard, sometimes colonnaded, and a south-facing dining room. In some cases, a second story is reached by a wooden staircase from the courtyard. The roof is typically pitched and tiled. There are important examples of pebble mosaic floors, some with mythological scenes, and of a bathroom with pottery tub. Inscriptional evidence from the houses gives information of their sale, rental, and mortgage. The houses have also produced several coin hoards. It also provides a terminus ante quem for the development of black-glossed pottery.
Palau Islands: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: An island group and independent republic in western Micronesia, perhaps settled from the Philippines c 2000 BC. Its prehistory includes a continuous pottery sequence to ethnographic times. There are large-scale terraced, horticultural, and defensive hilltop sites. Glass beads and bracelet segments are characteristic artifacts.
paleopathology: SYNONYM: palaeopathology, paleophysioanthropology
CATEGORY: related field
DEFINITION: The study of man's ills, diseases, diet, traumatic injuries, etc., by examination of human and animal remains. Such studies can determine life expectancy and population statistics, and contributory reason for the success or failure of a particular population. Most of the material studied is osteological, though soft tissue may be analyzed when preserved, as in of mummification or bog preservation. Some of man's ills -- fractures, malnutrition, dental decay, and some diseases -- leave their mark on his bones. Where his bones survive, evidence can be recovered which may reveal much about the conditions in which he lived, and died. Congenital malformations may show relationships between skeletons; diseases such as arthritis, tuberculosis, syphilis, and leprosy can be identified, as well as such conditions as bone fracture through injury. Evidence of war wounds and cannibalism have are also sought. The following groups of diseases have been regularly diagnosed in skeletons (both human and animals) from archaeological sites: (1) dental diseases; (2) diseases of the joints; (3) trauma (fractures and other injuries); (4) dietary deficiency diseases; (5) tumors; (6) inflammatory diseases: general inflammation and more specific conditions such as tuberculosis, leprosy and syphilis in man; (7) congenital deformities; and (8) endocrine disturbances. Study of the relative frequency of different diseases yields information about both the medical history and biology of ancient populations.
Pella: SYNONYM: Bounomos
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The ancient capital of King Archelaus of Macedonia at the end of the 5th century BC (until 168 BC) and birthplace of Alexander the Great. It is in northern Greece, northwest of Thessaloníki. The city flourished under Philip II, but, after the defeat of the last Macedonian king by the Romans (168 BC), it became a small provincial town. Excavations have revealed houses with colonnaded courts and rooms with mosaic floors made with small natural pebbles of various colors, dating from the late 4th century BC. The town had a rectangular grid plan; under the streets are terra-cotta pipes for distributing fresh water.
Peoples of the Sea: SYNONYM: Sea People(s), Peoples of the Islands in the Midst of the Sea
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Any of the groups of aggressive seafarers who invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age, especially in the 13th century BC. They are considered responsible for the destruction of the Hittite Empire, among others. Because of the abrupt break in ancient Near Eastern records as a result of the invasions, the precise extent and origin of the upheavals remain uncertain. Principal evidence is based on Egyptian texts and illustrations; other important information comes from Hittite sources and from archaeological data. The peoples were of mixed origin and tentative identifications of the people are: Pulesati/Pelset/Peleset = Philistines; Luka/Lukka = Lycians; Akawasha/Ahhiyawa/Ekwesh = Achaeans; Danuna = Danaoi; Sherden/Sherdana/Shardana = Sardinians; Shekelesh/Sicels/Sikels/Siculi = Sicilians; Tursha/Tyrsi/Teresh/Tyrrhenians (Tyrsenoi) = Etruscans. The Philistines, who perhaps came from Crete, were the only major tribe of the Sea Peoples to settle permanently in Palestine.
Playa Hermosa: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site on central Peruvian coast north of Lima which has yielded an assemblage of preceramic period tools, textiles, and evidence of cultivated corn, lima beans, chili peppers c 2300-2100 BC.
Ptolemy: CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: Name held by a succession of 15 Hellenistic rulers of Egypt from 305/304 to 30 BC. The Ptolemaic period is often taken to include the brief preceding Macedonian phase (332-305 BC), encompassing the reigns of Alexander the Great (332-323 BC), his half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus (323-317 BC), and his son Alexander IV (317-310 BC). Ptolemy I Soter (b 367/366 or 364 BC-d 283/282, Egypt), Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, became ruler of Egypt (323-285 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The dynasty reigned longer than any other dynasty and only succumbed to the Romans in 30 BC after Cleopatra VII's death.
Remote Oceania: CATEGORY: geography
DEFINITION: The small islands of the Pacific that can only be reached by sailing out of sight of land, including all the islands east of a line stretching from the Philippines to the Solomons.
Rhodes: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Large Ionian/Aegean island, prosperous in Classical times as it was on trade routes from Greece to Egypt and the East. Minoan remains at Ialysus are evidence of early Cretan influence. With the collapse of the Minoan civilization (c. 1500-1400 BC), Rhodes became a powerful independent kingdom with a late Bronze Age culture. Rhodes was occupied by Dorians, mainly from Argos, c 1100-1000 BC. The Rhodian cities of Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus, along with Cos, Cnidus, and Halicarnassus, belonged to the Dorian Hexapolis (league of six cities) by which the Greeks protected themselves in Asia Minor. The cities of Rhodes traded throughout the Mediterranean and founded colonies in Italy, Sicily, Spain, and Asia Minor. Rhodes supported Rome during its war with Philip V of Macedonia. The island steadily declined after Rome made Delos a free port c 166 BC. During the triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus (43 BC), the conspirator Gaius Cassius plundered Rhodes for refusal to support him. Though it continued for another century as a free city, it never recovered its former prosperity; in about 227 BC a severe earthquake devastated the island. Excavations have unearthed a stadium, odeum, temples, and city walls. At its wealthiest and most powerful in the period c 323-166 BC, Rhodes developed a new form of house colonnaded court (peristyle) with one row of columns higher than the others; provided a grand entrance to the Lindos acropolis sanctuary of Athena, and produced sculptures of quality, including a colossus overlooking the harbor (which fell in the earthquake of 227 BC). Rhodes became important again during the Crusader period, when it was chosen for an important military base.
Sa-huynh: SYNONYM: Sa Huynh
CATEGORY: culture; site
DEFINITION: Iron Age culture and site on the central coast of southern Vietnam, dating mainly from the 1st millennium BC and associated with pottery urn burials and rich artifact assemblages paralleled most closely in the Philippines, north Borneo, and Sulawesi. The culture may be associated with early Chamic (Austronesian) settlement in Vietnam or proto-Cham, and appears to be contemporary with, but separate from, the Dong-son culture of north Vietnam. Most assemblages known are from jar burials. Characteristic artifacts include lingling-o earrings and double-headed animal pendants of jadeite. It was active c 600 BC-c 100 AD.
Sea Peoples: SYNONYM: Sea People
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A collective term for various peoples who were on the move in the Aegean, Anatolia, and Levant in the 13th and 12th centuries BC. They were responsible for widespread destruction of settlements in these areas, particularly Ugarit and Alalakh and, more remotely, with the fall of Mycenaean Greece and the Hittite empire. Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians moved into Greece and Aegean islands, probably destroyed the Mycenaean kingdom and drove the inhabitants eastwards (Trojan War, c 1200 BC). The Thraco-Phrygians were also driven into Anatolia, where they brought about the fall of the Hittite Empire. Homeless peoples swept southwards along the coasts of Asia Minor and Syria, burning and looting as they went, and were only stopped by Ramesses III and Merenptah in 1174 BC. It was at this time that the Philistines settled in Palestine.
Sotira-Teppes: SYNONYM: Sotira culture
CATEGORY: site; culture
DEFINITION: Southern Cyprus type site of the Neolithic II of the later 5th millennium BC. There were circular and oval stone and mud-brick houses, a simple pit-grave cemetery, and combed ware. A Chalcolithic Philia culture of the mid-3rd millennium BC was also found in nearby Sotira-Kaminoudhia. Small ornaments of picrolite (a type of soapstone) and pottery distinguish the Sotira culture; toward the end of the period copper came into use.
Tabon Caves: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Large complex of limestone caves in southwest Palawan, the Philippines, which have produced a sequence ranging from c 22,000 BC to the late metal age. Tabon Cave itself has a flake industry of early Australian type dating from 30,000-9000 years ago, in association with early Australoid skeletal remains which are dated c 22,000-20,000 BC. A simple blade technology appears in Duyong Cave c 5000 BC and other caves continue through the Neolithic (c 3800-500 BC) and into a rich jar-burial tradition elsewhere in the Philippines. There are also later deposits with Chinese ceramic imports.
Taiwan: SYNONYM: Formosa
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Island 100 miles (160 km) off the southeast coast of the China mainland. Taiwan had a native aboriginal population of Malayo-Polynesian ancestry and it occupies an important position in the prehistory of Southeast Asia. Evidence for pre-Neolithic settlement is from c 3500 BC, followed by a Neolithic culture (Ta-p'en-k'eng culture). That culture had cord-marked pottery and was related to contemporary rice-cultivating cultures on the adjacent mainland. Linguistically, it represents the earliest recognizable phase of Austronesian language in the islands Southeast Asia. Later Taiwan Neolithic cultures also show close connections with south China and the Philippines. Major Chinese settlement of the island did not occur until the 17th century AD.
Tasaday: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Small group of forest food collectors isolated in the rain-forests of Mindanao, the Philippines, first reported by anthropological investigators in 1971. Numbering 25 at the time, the Tasadays have a simple technology and food-gathering strategy. Linguistic studies suggest that they may instead have descended from an original horticultural population and simplified their own culture during about 700 years of isolation. The Tasaday were dressed only in loincloths and skirts made of orchid leaves, used only crude stone tools (axes and scrapers) and wooden implements (fire drills and digging sticks), and had no weapons for hunting or war.
Thrace or Thracia: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Ancient and modern region of the southeastern Balkans; in ancient times, the part north of Greek settlement extending to the Black Sea. In the 5th century BC, it included modern Bulgaria and Romania. Most Thracians became subject to Persia in c 516-510 BC. It was assimilated (356-342 BC) by Philip II of Macedon and later provided Philip's son, Alexander the Great, with troops during his conquests. In 197 BC, Rome assigned much of Thrace to the kingdom of Pergamum. In the 1st century BC, Rome became more involved in the affairs of the region and emperor Claudius I annexed the entire Thracian kingdom in 46 AD. Thrace was subsequently made into a Roman province. The emperor Trajan and his successor, Hadrian, founded cities in Thrace, notably Sardica (modern Sofia) and Hadrianopolis (modern Edirne). In about 300 AD, Diocletian reorganized the area between the Lower Danube and the Aegean into the diocese of Thrace. Archaeological sites are the homes of Democritus, the 5th-century philosopher, and of Protagoras, a counselor of Alexander the Great; and the Roman highway Via Egnatia.
Vergina: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Royal capital of Macedonia in northern Greece with a tumulus cemetery of the Early Iron Age. A pair of royal tombs from the fourth century BC contained many objects of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, several wall frescoes, and two caskets of human bones, which may be the remains of the parents of Alexander III, Philip II and his fourth wife Olympias.
Yap: SYNONYM: Guap
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Island and archipelago of the western Caroline Islands, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, know for large wheel-shaped discs of stone money. The stone is quarried in the Palau Islands and taken to Yap by canoe. Yap was at the head of a chain of trade and tribute in the Carolines, the so-called Yapese empire" and in contact with Palau and the Marianas Islands as seen in similar red ware of the 2nd millennium BC. The occurrence of child jar-burial suggests later contact with the Philippines."

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