Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (186 page)

Hero figure whose exploits feature largely and in great detail in the
ULSTER CYCLE
. A supernatural figure, he is the defender of his tribe, a mortal endowed with superhuman powers. He is possibly the son of the god Lug. His name means ‘the hound of Culann’.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Small Maya farming settlement in northern Belize important as the earliest known site of the Northern Maya. Excavated by Norman Hammond in the period 1975–93, some fourteen major phases were recognized beginning in the middle Pre-Classic,
c.
1200 bc, and ending around ad 300 during the early Classic.
The Swasey/Bladen Phase of the site has red and orange mottled ceramics, associated with tiny cobs of corn, and root crops such as cocoyam and manioc. There is some evidence for early Maya architecture in the form of plastered platforms which would have supported perishable superstructures.
[Rep.: N. Hammond , 1991,
Cuello: An early Maya community in Belize
. Cambridge: CUP]

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A royal compound belonging to a king of the Inca empire, which also served as a mausoleum after his death.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A piece of armour designed to protect the torso. It comprised both breast and back armour, sometimes shaped to the contours of the chest and back muscles (muscled cuirass). Variously made of laminated linen, leather, sheet-bronze, or iron, or scales of horn, hide, or metal.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A fragmentary religious grouping, to which individuals are loosely affiliated, but which lacks any permanent structure.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

The statue of a god or goddess. Such statues were housed with great dignity in temples.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search