Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (213 page)

Relating to the back or upper surface. In describing a struck flint or stone blade or flake it refers to the outer face furthest away from the core, usually with a ridged appearance and perhaps traces of old flake beds in it. compare
VENTRAL
.

 
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Arctic cultures found in western Greenland, around the northern Hudson Bay area, and the islands of northern parts of North America, dating to the period 550 bc to ad 1100. Seemingly developing from the Pre-Dorset Tradition of the Arctic Small Tool Tradition, Dorset Tradition communities lived mainly on the coast. They were hunters and their subsistence economy was based mainly on sea mammals, especially seals, and other resources derived from the shoreline. However, terrestrial mammals such as caribou and even polar bears were also exploited, along with many smaller species.Their material culture included bone hunting equipment, including toggling harpoons, lances and spears. Chipped and polished stone was also used for edged tools and weapons. Small stone lamps were used. Houses were rectangular semi-subterranean structures.Dorset art styles were well established and elaborate. The repertoire includes lifelike portraits of actual people, and Dorset carvers were adept at working antler, bone, ivory, soapstones, and wood. Over half of their carvings were of human beings or polar bears. Few decorated objects were utilitarian pieces: most were masks, figurines, and plaques that were used in funerary rituals and in shamanistic and magical ceremonies.Skeletal remains show that Dorset Tradition communities were the ancestors of modern Inuit, and it may be that when some of the Inuit legends refer to ‘Tunnit’ folk, giants with enormous strength, and people without dog sleds or bows and arrows, they are talking about Dorset Tradition societies.

 
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A shaft-hole axe with a symmetrically set cutting blade at either end, found in stone, copper, and bronze in prehistoric Europe. In
MINOAN
Crete the double axe was an extremely common religious symbol. Votive double axes are frequently found in shrines and sanctuaries. The significance of the double axe may derive from its use as a sacrificial implement.

 
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A kind of monastic house created to house a community of men and women in separate but adjacent accommodation. In plan such houses typically comprise one or two churches and domestic buildings arranged around two self-contained cloisters. Such houses originated in Merovingian Gaul and began to be built from the 7th century
ad
onwards. See also
MONASTERY
.

 
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Douglas , James
(1753–1819)
[Bi].

British antiquarian well known for his fieldwork in Kent and Sussex which included the examination of a very large number of Anglo-Saxon burial mounds. Douglas's career included a period in industry and in the Austrian and British armies, and in 1780 he took holy orders. His publications include
Nenia Britannica
which records his exploits in Sussex and Kent.
[Bio.: R. Jessup , 1975,
Man of many talents: an informal biography of James Douglas
. Chichester: Phillimore]

 
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Douglass , Andrew Ellicott
(1867–1962)
[Bi].

American astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson who was responsible for developing the technique of
DENDROCHRONOLOGY
as a dating method. He began his work on living trees around 1901, before searching for ancient timber from archaeological sites. By 1929 he had developed two lengthy sequences for the American southwest.
[Bio.: G. E. Webb , 1983,
Tree rings and telescopes: the scientific career of
A. E. Douglass .
Tuscon: University of Arizona Press
]