Archaeology Wordsmith

Results for concave:

concave: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Curving inward; having an outline or surface that curves inwards like the interior of a sphere
metate: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: lower grindstone, concave quern, stone saddle quern
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: A ground-stone slab with a concave upper surface used as a lower millstone against which another stone is rubbed to grind vegetable material such as cereal grains, seeds, nuts, etc. A metate is one of a two-part milling apparatus -- the other part being with a mano (handheld upper grindstone). Metates are found in agricultural and preagricultural contexts over much of the world and are often made of volcanic rock in Mesoamerica. It is a Spanish term for the smoothed, usually immobile, stone with a concave upper surface and is mostly associated with the grinding of maize. It is a hallmark artifact in the definition of prehistoric subsistence patterns.
Adena point: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A widespread Native American culture of the Early Woodland period in the Ohio Valley (US) and named after the Adena Mounds of Ross County. It is known for its ceremonial and complex burial practices involving the construction of mounds and by a high level of craftwork and pottery. It is dated from as early as c. 1250 BC and flourished between c. 700-200 BC. It is ancestral to the Hopewell culture in that region. It was also remarkable for long-distance trading and the beginnings of agriculture. The mounds (e.g. Grave Creek Mound) are usually conical and they became most common around 500 BC. There was also cremation. Artifacts include birdstones, blocked-end smoking pipes, boatstones, cord-marked pottery, engraved stone tablets, and hammerstones. Artifacts distinctive of Adena include a tubular pipe style, mica cutouts, copper bracelets and cutouts, incised tablets, stemmed projectile points, oval bifaces, concave and reel-shaped gorgets, and thick ceramic vessels decorated with incised geometric designs.
Auriculate: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A major projectile form which has rounded or pointed ears that project from the concave base or stem of points or blades.
basal edge: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: The proximal edge of a triangular or lanceolate projectile or stem of a stemmed type. There are eight major types of Basal Edges; Convex, Straight, Concave, Auriculate, Lobbed, Bifurcated, Fractured and Snapped.
base shapes: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: concave, disk, flat, foot-ring, knob, loop, omphalos, C279pedestal, pod, pointed, ring, round, stump, trumpet/ogee
blow-outs: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: blowout
CATEGORY: geology
DEFINITION: An area in the earth that has become concave or depressed by wind-removal or erosion of sandy or soft, light soils. The topsoil and, perhaps, some of the lower soils, are so removed, especially in arid regions. A blowout resembles the crater of a volcano. Sometimes when earth is removed in this way, archaeological sites are revealed.
Breton arrowhead: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A type of well-made barbed and tinged arrowhead, highly symmetrical in form, with graceful slightly concave or convex sides and flared barbs. The tang is the same length as the barbs. Characteristic of the early Bronze Age in northern France and southern Britain.
bulb of percussion: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: bulb of force
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: In flint-making, a swelling or bulb left on the surface of a blade or flake directly below the point of impact on the striking platform. In other words, a swelling on a flake or blade at the point where it has been struck to detach it from a core. On the flake or blade struck off there is a rounded, slightly convex shape around this point called the bulb of percussion and on the core there is a corresponding concave bulb. The point and the bulb of percussion are rarely present if a flake has been struck off naturally, as by heat or frost. Thus the presence of a bulb of percussion makes it possible to distinguish human workmanship from natural breakage.
Cahokia point: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: This side notched , triangular arrow point has straight sides to slightly concave basal edges. A few may have slightly convex basal edges. In a addition to the side notches on the blade, usually just above the primary side notches, or it may be serrated. Points with two or three notches are the most common. The Cahokia point was named by Edward G. Scully {1951 :15 } for examples found at the Cahokia site in St. Clair and Madison counties in Illinois. An early Mississippian point dating in the A.D. 900 to A.D. 1300 range.
cavea: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: The concave-shaped auditorium of an ancient open-air theater, which was often a semicircle of stone benches rising in tiers. A cavea might be divided, depending on the size of the building, into 1-3 distinct tiers, called upper, lower, middle (summa, ima, media cavea).
cavetto: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cavetto cornice
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A hollow concave molding projecting from the tops of Egyptian cornices, pylons, altars, walls, doorways, flat-topped stelae, and false doors and whose profile is the quadrant of a circle. It was probably derived from the appearance of the tops of fronds of vegetation.
cavetto rim: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A rim, found especially on black-burnished cooking pots, which curves outwards from the vessel to form a concave, quarter-round profile.
cavetto zone: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A concave area of the face of a ceramic vessel between carinations. Typically below a rim or at the shoulder of a vessel.
Clactonian: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An early flake-tool culture of Europe, dating from the early Mindel-Riss (Great Interglacial) of the Pleistocene epoch, which occurred from 1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago. It was named after discoveries at Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, England. A kind of concave scraper, perhaps used to smooth and shape wooden spears, is typical of the Clactonian industry. Apart from the tip of a wooden spear, the artifacts consisted of trimmed flint flakes and chipped pebbles, some of which can be classified as chopper tools. Handaxes were absent. The Clactonian seems therefore to have coexisted with Early Acheulian. Some believe that the two industries are quite distinct, while others maintain that both assemblages might have been made by the same people, and that the Clactonian could in theory be an Acheulian industry from which handaxes were absent because such tools were not needed for the jobs carried out at a particular site. Clactonian and related industries are distributed throughout the north European plain, and Clactonian tools are similar in appearance to those produced in the Soan industry of Pakistan and in several sites in eastern and southern Africa. The Tayacian industry of France and Israel is believed to be a smaller edition of the Clactonian.
Clovis point: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Clovis spear point
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: A distinctive, fluted, lanceolate (leaf-shaped) stone projectile point characteristic of the early Paleo-Indian period, c 10,000-9000 BC, and often found in association with mammoth bones. It is named for Clovis, New Mexico, where it was first found. The concave-based projectile point has a longitudinal groove on each face running from the base to a point not more than halfway along the tool. The base of a Clovis point is concave and the edge of the base usually blunted through grinding, probably to ensure that the thongs, attaching the point to the projectile, were not cut. It is assumed to have been a spear because of its size; the length of points varies from 2-4 in. (7-12 cm), and their widest width is 1-1 1/2 in (3-4 cm). Clovis points and the artifacts associated with them (grouped together as the Llano complex) are among the earliest tools known from the New World and have been found over most of North America, with a few outliers as far south as Mexico and Panama. It is the earliest projectile point of the Big Game Hunting tradition of North America. From these points came the later, more sophisticated points, such as the Folsom.
Clyde-Carlingford tombs: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A series of megalithic chamber tombs in southwestern Scotland and northern Ireland with some radiocarbon dates before 3000 BC, an early stage of the Neolithic. They are sometimes described as segmented gallery graves, since they have subdivided rectangular chambers. Another important characteristic was a concave or semicircular forecourt. In some of the Irish examples, this was oval or circular and they are described as court cairns. The overlying cairns are long and either oval, rectangular, or trapezoidal in shape. Collective inhumation was the normal practice, although cremation sometimes occurred in Ireland.
collared urn: CATEGORY: artifact; ceramics
DEFINITION: A type of urn used in the British Early Bronze Age, also called an 'overhanging rim urn'. It has a developed rim which may be straight, convex, or slightly concave in profile. Decoration is normally on the rim or the upper half of the vessel. Collared urns often contained cremation burials, though some have been found in domestic contexts.
discoidal: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: disc
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A stone artifact circular in shape and concave on both sides, usually of quartz, granite, flint, hematite, slate, or basalt. It ranges 1-9 inches in diameter and 1-20 pounds in weight. Some have a hole through the center and others have flanges around the edges. They seemed to have a ceremonial or ritual purpose or for mixing herbs or medicines.
Elko point: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Large, roughly triangular-shaped chipped stone points with concave, straight, or slightly concave bases. Two main forms are known: those with corner notches on the base and those with ?ears' on the base. Dated to the period 1300 BC to AD 700 among Desert Archaic Stage communities of the Great Basin and western interior of North America.
ficron: CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: A long pointed, roughly worked biface with slightly concave sides and a detailed tip. It may have preceded the Micoquian biface.
flute: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A channel or grove running up a pillar or running up the center of a projectile point made of stone. In architecture, a flute resembles half of a flute split longitudinally, with the concave side outwards. In referring to projectile point artifacts, the mark is a distinctive longitudinal groove left on the point after removal of a channel flake. It is characteristic of Folsom and Clovis points.
Folsom: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Folsom culture
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A village in northeastern New Mexico which lends its name to the remains of a prehistoric culture first found there and especially to its characteristic projectile point (Folsom point). It was a Stone Age culture, characterized by refinement of fluted projectile points, marking a significant advance over the projectile points of the earlier Clovis culture. The culture is believed to be 10-13,000 years old (11,000-10,200 BP). It was the scene of one of the first New World discoveries of artifacts associated with extinct fauna (the remains of 23 extinct giant bison). Folsom points are usually dated between c 9000-8000 BC. Folsom points are slightly different from Clovis: smaller, with their widest dimension near the middle rather than towards the base; more concave base than Clovis, and edges of Folsom points were retouched. Another site, Blackwater Draw has its Folsom layer dated to 8340 BC.
Folsom point: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Folsom projectile point
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: A distinctive Palaeoindian fluted projectile point with a single flute on each face and fine pressure flaking. Found in association in sites around Folsom, New Mexico, from c 9000-8000 BC (alternately 11,000-10,200 BP), they differ from Clovis points in the length of the flute, which extends over most of the point's side. Folsom points are smaller, with their widest dimension near the middle rather than towards the base; more concave base than Clovis, and edges of Folsom points were retouched.
gouge: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A chisel with a concave blade, used in carpentry, sculpture, and surgery; is a long, tapered, semi-cylindrical implement with a broad groove or hollow at the U-shaped, scooplike working end
Green Gully: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A Pleistocene site in southern Victoria, Australia, occupied between 15,000 and 4000 BC. Stone tools include large side-trimmed and concave flakes similar to those in Tasmania and at Kenniff Cave of the same period, and bipolar cores. Bones of two individuals, one male and one female, were found combined in a grave and were dated by radiocarbon on collagen to 4500 BC.
grinding stone: CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: Any lithic (stone) artifact used to process plant for food, medicines, cosmetics, or pigments. The grinding was done on a flat or concave surface.
hollow ware: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Cups, jugs, bowls, etc; serving dishes and accessories, esp. of silver, that are hollow or concave; hollow articles of cookware or crockery
jiggering: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: jollying
CATEGORY: ceramics
DEFINITION: A pottery-forming technique that involves use of a rotating mold that leaves its impression on either the interior or exterior surface of the vessel, which is otherwise shaped by wheel-throwing. When the clay body is placed within a concave mold, the process may be called jollying.
Levanna projectile point: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Levanna projectile points are usually associated with Late Woodland and Contact Period occupations in southern New England (ca. 700-300 Years B.P.). Common material types associated with this point include quartz, quartzite, hornfels, and basalt. Non-local cherts were also used in the manufacture of this point type. The Levanna point type is characterized by the equilateral triangular form and concave base.
molding: CATEGORY: ceramics
DEFINITION: A ceramic vessel construction technique where a flat, circular mass of clay is pressed into a concave mold, or placed over the top of a convex mold.
Nabta Playa: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A low-lying lake basin near the Egypt/Sudan border in the desert west of the Nile. Extensive scattered prehistoric occupation is attested from c 8100 bp, with assemblages of wild plant foods and ceramics. Settlement later concentrated in larger sites adjacent to the lakeshore. Pottery and concave-based arrowheads show affinities to those from Early Khartoum and the Fayyum, respectively. Cattle, probably domestic, were in the faunal remains. Sheep and goats were present by 6700 bp. Seeds were well-preserved and include two kinds of barley, doum palm, date palm, possible sorghum and several weed species indicative of the presence of cultivation. The degree of continuity from earlier times illustrated by this Neolithic phase is noteworthy, as is the early documentation of food production. A large aggregation site of 7000-6000 BP has associated megaliths.
naveta: CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A type of megalithic chamber tomb shaped like an upturned boat with rounded prow and squared stern, peculiar to the island of Minorca and dating to the earlier part of the Bronze Age c 2200-1500 BC. Navetas found on the Balearic Islands date from c 1500-800 BC. Each had an elongated U-shaped plan, a vault roofed by corbelling and a flat or slightly concave façade. The gallery-shaped burial chamber is approached by a corridor through the thickness of the wall, and there is occasionally a porthole slab partially blocking it. The best preserved example is Els Tudons.
necked bowl: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Bowl or jar with a rim curving outwards from its shoulder to form a neck of concave quarter-round profile. Sometimes referred to as a cavetto rim or neck.
ogee: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A double curve, one concave the other convex.
Palmela: CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A cemetery of four Copper Age (Chalcolithic) rock-cut tombs in Setúbal, Portugal, near Lisbon. Each has a kidney-shaped chamber, originally used for collective inhumation, entered by a long passage or through a hole in the roof. The cemetery forms the type site of a culture flourishing in central Portugal c 3800-3200 BC. A variety of amuletic objects in stone includes decorated plano-convex or cylindrical stylized human figurines, crescents, model hoes or adzes, and a pair of sandals from Alapraia. Stonework follows Neolithic traditions, but adds deeply concave-based arrowheads. The tombs were rich in Beaker material, including 50 beakers with copper knives and fragments of gold foil. Pottery, too, follows on from the Almeria culture, though foreign elements have been connected with the dark-slipped Urfirnis ware of Greece. There is also a distinctive type of arrowhead with near-circular copper blade and long tang, the Palmela point. The settlements are likely a variant of the Vila Nova de Sao Pedro culture.
pintadera: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A small object, usually of terra-cotta, consisting of a decorative stamp with a knob at the back for holding. The stamping surface is flat, concave, or convex. It has been suggested that they served to apply pigments to the human skin in repeat patterns as an alternative to tattooing. They are found in the Late Neolithic of central Europe and Italy, and pintaderas of both stamp and roller types occur widely in American cultures.
Plainview: CATEGORY: lithics; culture
DEFINITION: The name of a Plano projectile point which has parallel sides and a concave base and the name of the type site in Texas as well as the complex. The complex is associated with the point and non-diagnostic stone and bone tools.
quern: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: saddle quern, rotary quern, true quern
CATEGORY: artifact; lithics
DEFINITION: Large ancient grinding stone for grain or corn. A rough but hard stone was necessary to avoid grit in the flour. Its earliest (Neolithic before 5600 BC) form was the saddle quern, where material was ground with a handstone (or muller) on an immobile concave stone. It was later replaced by the rotary quern (by Roman times), where one stone is rotated on another by hand, animal, or wind power. Lava was widely traded for this purpose.
rounding: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: In pottery, rounding terms used are angular 'convex shape, sharp corners,' subangular 'convex shape, rounded-off corners,' rounded 'convex shape, no corners,' irregular 'convex/concave shape,' or flat 'two-dimensional shape'
saddle quern: CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: Ancient device for milling by pounding, a round stone rolled or rubbed on a flat stone bed. It is the earliest-known example, along with the mortar and pestle, of milling equipment and invented in Neolithic times (before 5600 BC). It consisted of a large, slightly concave, lower stone and a smaller upper stone. Grain spread on the surface of the lower stone was ground by being rubbed over with the upper stone.
Sandia Cave: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Sandia point
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Type site for a tanged and unfluted projectile point in New Mexico's Sandia Mountains. This cave has yielded artifacts of the so-called Sandia Man" (25 000 BC). In Pueblo mythology the Sandias were sacred marking the southern boundary of the Tiwa-speaking Indian territory. Sandia points were stratified below Folsom points but the radiocarbon dates of pre-20 000 BC are often discounted the true date probably falling in the range 12000-8000 BC overlapping with Clovis. Associated fauna of bison mammoth and mastodon suggested contemporaneity with the Llano Complex. Sandia Type I has a lanceolate blade without fluting and without concave base of Clovis/Folsom and a shoulder to one side of the base of the blade suggesting knife use. Sandia Type II has rounded base."
Sandia point: SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: Sandia projectile point
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: type site for a tanged and unfluted projectile point in New Mexico's Sandia Mountains. This cave has yielded artifacts of the so-called ""Sandia Man"" (25,000 BC). In Pueblo mythology the Sandias were sacred, marking the southern boundary of the Tiwa-speaking Indian territory. Sandia points were stratified below Folsom points but the radiocarbon dates of pre-20,000 BC are often discounted, the true date probably falling in the range 12000-8000 BC, overlapping with Clovis. Associated fauna of bison, mammoth, and mastodon suggested contemporaneity with the Llano complex. Sandia type I has a lanceolate blade without fluting and without concave base of Clovis/Folsom and a shoulder to one side of the base of the blade, suggesting knife use. Sandia Type II has rounded base.
saucer brooch: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Circular brooch, concave in section, like a modern lapel badge, generally decorated in chip-carving. Distributed in the north German lowlands and in England, and dated to the 5th and 6th centuries AD
spokeshave: CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: A stone tool with a semicircular concavity used for smoothing spears or arrowshafts; a drawknife or small transverse plane with end handles for planing convex or concave surfaces
Strelets culture: CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: Upper Palaeolithic culture of the Oka-Don Lowland of European Russia, dated to c 40,000-25,000 bp. The earliest assemblages include Middle Palaeolithic scrapers, points, and bifaces. Later assemblages have scrapers, burins, non-stone tools, and art objects. The diagnostic tool is a small triangular bifacial point with concave base.
tripartite urn: CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Form of early Bronze Age collared urn found in the British Isles in which the body has three distinct components or sections: a trunco-conic or ogee body; a concave neck; and a collar which is usually angled but occasionally vertical

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